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cool story brah
Kobe’s lesson to Tiger: Winning trumps all
By Adrian Wojnarowski
From his courtside seat, Tiger Woods’ eyes seldom left him. All night in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, you could see them darting everywhere with Kobe Bryant. Woods understood that he was witnessing his kindred spirit, the talent with whom he shared a generational sporting genius. Together, they were groomed for this life and discussed that over dinner in a suburban Orlando restaurant in June.
With his wife, Elin, beside him at Amway Arena it likely never occurred to Woods that his blessed life could soon derail with a self-destructive bent of his own. He doesn’t have the criminal charges and the threat of prison hanging over him like Bryant did with his sexual assault case in 2003, but a family and reputation crashing around him nonetheless. If Bryant has reached out to Woods, he’s discovered, like running buddies Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley, the phones are turned off, the party’s over.
Whatever Woods wants out of private redemption, the path of public forgiveness won’t come with public apologies and crocodile tears. All Woods needed was an NBA League Pass package on Wednesday and he could’ve witnessed the truth for himself. There was Bryant with his arms raised in Milwaukee, a winning shot to end overtime and a 39-point performance. Bryant has a broken finger, but a repaired image and oddly unburdened life six years later.
America won’t want contrition, as much as it’ll want a Sunday communion with Woods. This is a sporting nation that finds its virtue in victory. Bryant never took a leave of absence the way that Woods says he will now. He bought his wife a big diamond, and dropped 42 on the Spurs in the playoffs after spending an afternoon in a Colorado courtroom.
Six years later, Bryant has done what American sporting culture demands: He came back, better than ever. He won his MVP, a le without Shaq and he’s chasing down Jordan’s six championships, the way that Tiger is Jack Nicklaus’ 18. As comebacks go, Bryant had further to go. Now, just look at him: There isn’t a great champion in sports – not Derek Jeter, nor Tom Brady – more assured of chasing MVP awards and championships into the next several seasons.
“He’s unburdened,” a league source close to Bryant told me recently. “He has no more pressure. With the le without Shaq, he came all the way back from the [sexual assault case] and climbed back on top of the mountain. He is playing with no more worries, and no more weight on his shoulders.”
Now, Bryant plays with a broken finger and still averages 40.5 points over two nights in Chicago and Milwaukee. LeBron James is trying to win his le with a 37-year-old Shaquille O’Neal, and Dwyane Wade is trying to make the playoffs and bide time until 2010 free agency can secure him better teammates. Across the NBA, the great players are conspiring to find an alignment of talent that can compare with Kobe Bryant’s Lakers.
The Boston Celtics are championship contenders with an aging core and a shorter shelf life. Everyone’s ultimately chasing Kobe.
Bryant, 31, has it all. Around the league, some wonder how he’ll hold up physically without renowned trainer Tim Grover traveling with him this season, but so far, so good. Yes, the Lakers have a supporting cast for Kobe Bryant. He doesn’t have to do as much, but he rarely fails them when called upon in moments of truth. Eventually, Andrew Bynum’s leg could give out again, and Ron Artest could go haywire and the Lakers’ championship chase could still be all about the greatness of Kobe Bryant.
And in those times – a blustery Milwaukee in December, a sweaty Staples Center in June – the judge and jury of a nation will validate Kobe’s journey with the big shot in the big moment. Yes, Woods witnessed Bryant’s final public validation courtside this spring and it was so clear to see that he found a sporting soul mate before his eyes, the man in the mirror.
Only, Woods truly had no idea. Not until now, not until these past few weeks. Kobe can’t do much for Tiger’s private betrayals, but he has blazed his path to a public redemption.
Wherever Woods might have been watching on Wednesday night, the message for his public journey back remained unmistakable and un-obscured: In this sporting America, virtue is still mostly found in victory.
cool story brah
For both it can never be like it was.
for both you and the victim?
It's so nice that people are willing to forgive a rapist just because he can play sport. What a great society we live in. Sports people think they are above reproach.
Australian Rugby league players also do the dumbest things (sexual assualts, drunken rampages etc) and then they are soon forgiven because they play sport.
It actually is funny..
I guess when you make money for the white man, you get a pass..
culburn plays sports?
....I think you can finish the rest of that joke LOL..
Why, because this scribe puts it down on paper, it's true? Use your head, Nuggy.
Hmmmmmmm... that seems like an awfully racist comment coming from a guy who all night has been on his soapbox giving people about racist comments.
You are truly a piece of work!
too bad tiger doesnt have refs sucking on his balls all day
Tiger has more trouble. BBall players are expected to be aholes and sleep around. Golfers on the other hand have sponsors who depend on old rich white guys to buy their crap. Golfing requires a different standard of person than bball.
What surprises me is it's been happening for a while and then BAM! it hits him all at once. Almost like a coordinated attack by the media.
There's more. Limbaugh say's there is more, but, it's not his place to dispense it.
Got to be either drugs or gay sex.
"Welcome to the club, dogg. Here's your Bro Card back. We weren't sure about you before...but now? Fa sho."
i tried to read the article without getting pist off.
how are they going to compare a accused rapist to someone who just gets way too much white girl booty?
thats like putting madoff and trump in the same category of businessman. "they both made their money and are poorly respected" thats bull .
rape is a different scenario than getting some consensual bootay's
You think Kobe raped that chick?
Really?
She purposedly did it with him to try ti get $$$$, don't be naive
Acquittal makes it no different.
I think your post is serious so I'll respond to it as if it is.
Kobe may or may have done it, but he wasn't found guilty, so calling him a "rapist" is inaccurate at least from what we know. When people joke and call him a "rapist," oh well. But if you're being serious, he's technically not one.
Did you know Chauncey was charged with sexual assault his rookie year in Boston along with Antoine Walker and one other Celtics player? You don't hear about that because it was so long ago and other than Walker, the names weren't big. Change your opinion of him?
Do you not cheer for your team when JR Smith hits a big three pointer even though he's the reason his own friend is dead?
It's not just athletes. Snoop Dogg got acquitted even though he was involved in a murder. OJ when he was no longer an athlete who was still playing. And it's not just crimes. Most fans still loved Magic after he announced he had HIV and his history of sexual promiscuity was revealed. In one of those books about him, it even stated that he kept having unprotected sex with his wife after he knew he had HIV. People still love Magic though. , look at John Daly. He's a drunk and a compulsive gambler and I think he beat one of his wife, and people love the guy. Marv Albert is a butt biting freak. Oh well, he's still cool. Hugh Hefner is 83 years old and has sex with 18-19 year old girls. Cool guy.
Society is forgiving. Who knows why, but it is. They'll be forgiving with Tiger too. Even if he doesn't win for a while, we'll be forgiving. It's news one day and the next it's fine. People get enamored with the current news stories. Kobe still has haters, but his Colorado scandal isn't really huge news, and it wasn't after a few months after the court case was over. Even when the civil trial was going on, people stopped talking about it. It only comes up in jokes and when people just want to unnecessarily bash on him. In a few months, they'll be into the next celebrity scandal, and Tiger will be fine. There will still be haters and people ready to bash or make fun of Tiger, but it won't be a big deal anymore.
I could accuse you of being a ing idiot. It doesn't mean you're a ing idiot. But because you're an "accused" ing idiot, is it too egregious to compare you to someone who is regarded as a pretty bright individual but flippantly makes a dumb comment because you are an "accused" ing idiot?
duncan228
when are you going to post other player articles?
everything you post is Kobe
dp
Although I truly believe this encounter between us was consensual, I recognize now that she did not and does not view this incident the same way I did. After months of reviewing discovery, listening to her attorney, and even her testimony in person, I now understand how she feels that she did not consent to this encounter. - bryant , 2003
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