Interesting article, agreed for the most part. Whether its Shaq leaving, rapping about how his ass tastes, the Colorado "incident", the constant ballhogging chemistry issues, etc. - he's been playing like he's got a chip on his shoulder and distrust in his teammates. Which is expected since he's been made a spectacle whether it was his lows or highs but all that negative has to get to a guy like Bryant. His reputation would be on a whole other level if not for Colorado imo. And the comparisons don't work with Tiger since I don't think he's been brought to court on rape charges.
He's a bad ass on the court but definitely not in the top tier when it comes to the whole picture; but he's far from the only star that way.