My 5 year old can bring up gameplay videos from the Star Wars and Indiana Jones LEGO video games to figure out how to get through spots that are too difficult to figure out on his own. On topic, I don't like Kobe because of the way he treated Shaq after he rode Shaq and Phil's coattails to three championships. His lack of success since then is well deserved and he deserves to never get another ring after the way he acted in that situation.
two points: Kobe Sucks. It's tough to make generalizations about a country of 350M people. Kobe Sucks.
jerk? check selfish? check pompous? check arrogant? check smug? check punk? check classless? check takes cheap shots? check whines? check damn...americans are picky.
I don't get the Kobe hate. I had the chance to meet him several times many years ago, when he used to work out, play ball and lift weights at the Westside Tennis Club facilities with other players in the offseason. I thought he was a really nice guy and was quite accessible to the regular folks who would be watching them. He was always very polite. I don't know if he has changed alot in the past 5-6 years, but the Kobe who I got to meet was one of the nicer players there.
probably because the rest of us didn't meet him at Westside and are judging based on what we see about how he acts on the court. also some people feel that way about him because he's douchetastic.
Actually, from what I've been told, this is quite accurate. From what I understand, he is very nice. It's his wife who's a complete c***.
Tim Keown has an article that I agreed. with.http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=keown/090512&sportCat=nba I didn't mind Bird or Jordan being arrogant or talking trash, because that is who they were. Kobe is trying to be MJ, but doing it with over the top theatrics. The whole thing is premeditated and fake. Hence the dislike.
So, Ronny... You post in here, a Rockets forum. A Rockets forum. By the way, did you know the Rockets are playing the Lakers in the western conference semifinals now? It's a great series. Oh, and- Kobe plays for the Lakers. You post in here, a Rockets forum which is composed mostly of Americans, to discuss your theory that those Americans who dislike Kobe do so because they are uncultured and closed minded. Maybe your theory has merits worth discussing. Maybe not. But the fact that you start it here without a single thought to context displays a thoughtless, insulting demeanor.
First off I'm going to give you a straight non-snarky reply because that is my D & D persona even though this thread doesn't deserve more than snarkiness. No body is saying that Kobe Bryant isn't a great ball player you seem to be saying that is all that he should be judged on. As Charles Barkley famously said he isn't a role model. Just because Kobe Bryant is a great ball player doesn't mean we should admire him or respect him. In the end as fans we can and do judge who we admire based upon a variety of reasons. For example I rooted for Roger Clemens when he pitched for the Stros because I am a Stros fan. I didn't admire him because as a person he is a jerk. Your argument though would say that I should admire him because he is such a great person. Its not that straight forward as even though as much as I like that he is a great pitcher helping my team get to the World Series at the sametime nothing else about him was anything that I should admire. Now your hero worship might be so simple as to just say that all you care about is onfield performance which you are certainly free to do but I would say that is a very shallow basis for hero worship. Also as I said I don't know enough about Europe to agree or disagree that European fans aren't as interested in their players characters or off field issues. Still given how nosy and pervasive British and other European tabloids are I have suspect that Europeans also have a similar interest that American fans do. It might not be as much but I have a hard time believing it doesn't exist at all.
That article was posted in GARM: http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=168778 Ronny spun this thread from that one.
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I would forgive Kobe for all his transgressions (being a jerk, throwing cheap shots, cheating on his wife, ALLEGEDLY being a rapist) if he would only tell me how my posterior tastes.
