A Tale of Two Players, Part One

In the Sports Section of today's The Journal Gazette, I came across an article by a writer for the Washington Post, Sally Jenkins. It's a tale of two NBA players, going two different directions career-wise. But to say that they're going two different directions is a bit of an understatement, given the fact that one player is more volatile than the other; if anything, their careers are going on completely divergent paths & that's saying something.

The first guy I'm going to mention is Kobe Bryant. Love him or hate him, he's one of the more premier NBA players around. He, with the help of Shaquille O'Neal, propelled the Lakers to glory which to this day remains unprecedented in the history of pro basketball.

That was then, this is now.

Bryant, as the sole go-to guy the Lakers have since Shaq bolted for Miami, has been unable to help the Lakers win so much as a single playoff series. In fact, he helped, as Jenkins put it, "...engineer the departure of Shaquille O'Neal in 2004." If that's not enough, she again states, "...Bryant fights with everybody." Like an Eminem of the NBA, Kobe has had longstanding beef with anyone & everyone: teammates Shaq & Karl Malone, Lakers coach Phil Jackson, Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak & Lakers owner Jerry Buss among others. Anytime Bryant is looked at as a a bad guy or causes controversy to develop, he feels he's being unfairly victimized (but he's put himself in that position; no one else has done it for him). That's been the pattern which his career has taken: one selfish roller-coaster ride with no real end in sight.

And to think of wanting this dude as a teammate? If one struck up a conversation with his fellow teammates back in Los Angeles, the consensus would be saying, "Forget it. He's too demanding."

That's the thing about Kobe which turns me off: he's just too demanding & wants more of this, more of that: attention, support, chances for the Lakers management to hear what he has to say for once. Unfortunately, listening to Kobe's tirades already is getting old. Crying out in his cloistered existence, in his own gated little world, "What about me?", Kobe is the worst of the worst when it comes to what a true NBA player should stand for: integrity, selflessness, dedication & compassion (he woefully lacks all four from the looks of things). If there were two words to best describe his personality, Jenkins said it best: "...glowering and dark-hearted..." Not to forget self-centered, narcissistic, plain immature. He may be one of the more premier scorers the NBA has got, but come on. Kobe tore the Lakers apart as a franchise & is continuing to do so even now.

This isn't to say that we're ruling out redemption for Kobe; he can snap out of his angry funk & bring the Lakers back to their good old glory days when Shaq was an equally formidable presence with the basketball @ Los Angeles. It's not too late.

The next blog will feature player #2 & believe me he's a brighter star than Kobe will ever be again. In fact, as one of the more premier NBA players around, his success story is one for the ages; please believe it!!