As you've no doubt heard, Kobe Bryant went schitzo yesterday, perhaps thinking that radio shows heard in New York were on, like, another planet from those heard in Los Angeles.
In case you missed it, Kobe went on Screamin' Stephen A. Smith's show on ESPN Radio in New York and said he wanted to be traded from the Lakers. (For this post, we'll leave aside comments about Stephen A's atrocious, self-aggrandizing, poorly-conceived questioning style.)
Then Kobe went on Dan Patrick's national show and sounded like he might reconsider after talking to Phil Jackson, arrogantly quoting Jackson as having said, "Look Kobe, calm down, we'll figure this out."
Then Kobe went on a radio show in L.A. and said he hopes something can be done because he doesn't want to go anywhere and that the Lakers are his team.
Wha..?
Last night on Sportscenter, the crew at the Spurs-Jazz game (Patrick, Jon Barry, Mike Wilbon and Screamin' Stephen) debated the issue, and Stephen A., to nobody's surprise, "has no problem" with Kobe's approach, saying that if the organization isn't going to try to win, he can do things like this.
Right.
Obviously, it's no surprise that Stephen A. Smith sided with the Grade-A Asshole, Kobe Bryant -- Stephen A wants so desperately to be buddies will all the players in the hopes that he might be their boy.
The point is, anyone who is defending Kobe is clueless or a suck-up. Kobe isn't doing this because he "just wants to win." He doesn't do anything for any purpose other than to further his own self-interests. Kobe thinks about Kobe first, second and third.
Let's not forget...
Kobe cheated on his gorgeous wife -- most likely many times, but at least one, very well-publicized time.
Kobe openly disliked Phil Jackson and Shaq and got both out of LA. Whether he specifically demanded it or not, it's immaterial -- the team chose him over those two because it was obvious a choice had to be made. I'm fairly sure that if Kobe went in to Lakers management and said he wanted both Shaq and Phil to stay, the team might well have considered it.
As for on-court, how about Kobe's flailing arms that cracked the face of more tha one opponent this season? And so blatantly that he had to be suspended. And, of course, that's not Kobe's fault, either! Surprise! Yeah, that's part of his shooting motion! Right! Let's keep believing the crap this liar shovels out.
Now let's be realistic: Kobe is upset because he's not the main topic of conversation when it comes to the NBA. So yesterday he made himself the main topic of conversation... because he's a selfish bitch!
Kobe isn't "entitled" to do any of this, despite what you'll hear some of his defenders say. The Lakers didn't "lie" to him, as he insinuated. They paid him 17 million dollars to play basketball for them this season. He's the man in LA, just like he wanted to be. And look! They aren't winning! So what, Kobe? You're committed to playing there. If I were the Lakers, I'd sit him down after yesterday's arrogant, self-centered tantrum and say, "You're under contract, you agreed to play here and you're playing here. Knock this childish shit off."
Kobe's not the victim here -- he's what's known as a "megalomaniac." And I don't understand why more people won't call him out on this. He's a brat, a baby, and a self-absorbed asshole who lies, cheats on his wife and is generally underhanded. He won three titles thanks to Shaq, so I don't even want to hear this crap about how he just wants to win, etc. He's seen it can work in L.A., so that's BS, too. This is about Kobe wanting to make news and wanting to simply throw a public tantrum. What's great about it is that he's so arrogant, he loses sight of logic and contradicts himself in the course of just a few hours. I'm imagining this isn't how he wanted to come off looking.
I only wish he could be traded to the Memphis Grizzlies or Atlanta Hawks and play in some real bad situations, rather than the posh L.A. scene.
Bitch.