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6/28/13

Today I will make my case for Kobe Bryant.  For those who do not follow sports, Kobe Bryant is a professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers.  Both Kobe and his team are very polarizing in the sports world.  I am an atypical sports fan in that I do not have allegiance to any one team.  Instead I find players that I like and follow their careers, regardless of the team the play for.   So for the record, I am not a Laker fan, but a Kobe fan.  I do cheer for the Lakers, but only until the Black Mamba (a Kobe nickname) is no longer around.  I also cannot defend a young Kobe.  I did not become a Kobe fan until around 2008.  Young Kobe is very different than current/old Kobe.  It’s evident in his play on the court but also in his off the court demeanor, i.e. interviews.  Young Kobe on the court was accused of being selfish and unavailable to his team on a personal level.  Young Kobe off the court was always all smiles and giggles, always trying to look and be cool.  Around 2008, Kobe changed.  On the court he turned into a marvelous leader.  Off the court he was a statue.  No longer concerned with being popular, Kobe was solely focused on winning an NBA championship.  My favorite Kobe moment goes as follows:

The Lakers were perennially meeting the Phoenix Suns in the playoffs.  Phoenix had a player named Raja Bell who claimed in a press conference that Kobe Bryant was not a threat to him.  Bell claimed that Kobe would barely score with Bell guarding him, and basically dismissed one of the top three scorers of all time in Kobe Bryant out of hand.  In a follow-up press conference with the Lakers, Kobe was asked what he had to say about the comments Raja Bell had made.  Kobe’s response was, “Who?  Never heard of him.”   

This dismissal of Bell by Kobe sums up better than any other story what I refer to as “Kobe Status”.  I don’t think it’s arrogance, as much as supreme confidence.  Instead of going to the level of Bell and insulting his game, Kobe just dismissed Bell’s existence.  Instead of worrying about what some opponent has to say, Kobe just completely put it out of his mind.  Whenever I encounter a “hater”, I just try and break out the Kobe Status.