Mi-crying Jordan? 1. Quit three times. 2. Cheat on your wife. 4. Bet on GOLF and lose millions. 5. Cry every time you get touched during gameplay and no ref calls a foul. Nice way to become a role model. I have never divorced, but... I don't know under what reasons Dream divorced. If he did, why is that a bad thing for a role model? CLEAN IMAGE: DAVID ROBINSON. Vince Carter. Clyde Drexler. Larry Bird. Tim Duncan.
I don't link it with being a bad guy. I link it with a guy who has problems that aren't something a kid should look up to. Jordan gambles tons and tons of money and just because he can afford it because he is insanely rich doesn't mean he doesn't have a problem. It's his competitive outlet without basketball. My question stems from all the callers I'd hear on talk radio and the hosts saying how Kobe is no longer a role model or someone to look up to because he cheated on his wife. I don't think Jordan is a bad guy, but he has his own major problems that he is not ripped for and he is still looked up to as a role model for the most part. Why should Kobe not be like that? I feel Jordan and Kobe are still model players and should be looked up to with how they play the game and how they work and compete at it. But as someone else put it they should be in the "not so perfect" class, because they are good guys but they have their major flaws. Also about Bonds and Ruth....Ruth did tons for orphanages and children and spent time with them that he never had to do. Bonds is aloof and an ass by almost everyone's standards. He has no one near him in the locker room...come on. Bonds maybe be a better private role model than Ruth since he isn't a drunk or womanizer, but in the eyes of the public it is Ruth all the way because of everything he did for children and how much extra time he would spend with them even though he was a drunk.
Charles was just saying that in addition to athletes, even before athletes, childrens' role models should be their teachers and their parents. He has since said that he knows that being famous makes him a role model, and he knew it when he made the commercial.
When Kobe wins some more dunk titles, more championships and an MVP or two, then everything is A-okay. He'll even get free passes should he father some illegitimate children or contract HIV.
Well, thats a narrow definition of a compulsive gambler. He gambles a lot because he can afford to do so. That still makes him a compulsive gambler without causing problems within the family or with his payments.
Vince Carter may have a clean image, but from what I have heard he's a real @sshole in real life. And how come Larry Bird gets a clean image even though he cheated on his wife? Maybe because he's white? You know the whole angel's food cake, devil's foodcake thing?
Being "clean" and being a good role model are two different things. Being clean is just that you haven't done big bad thing. Being a good role model is to project a positive lifestyle with class. There are a lot of clean players in the NBA, but only a handful can be called good positive role models. These include: AC Green, Mo Cheeks, David Robinson, Clyde Drexler, Grant Hill, Joe Dumars, Yao Ming and Dennis Rodman (j/k ).
Two weeks ago the name Kobe could have easily slid into that category. My point being, each and everyone of those guys may be abusive, womanizing drunks. We rarely know. Kirby Puckett anyone?
I understand your point. Anyone, not just the celebs, could be discovered to be a bad person. (Believe me, I've been burned by someone whom I really respect--more than once.) That does not prevent us from looking up to some people who at least appear to us to be not only clean but good. Kobe never came across as that kind of person even before the incident. He was very much like MJ: talented, hard working, but only care about his own ambition. That's not a very good role model, imo.
No, they are not role models, but they are good basketball players. Teach your kids to admire their skills, but also teach them that they are human and not all that. I have never asked for an autograph in my life, and place no value on someone because they are famous...... Actors, Basketball players, athletes etc....just people, no better, no worse. And, in the end, they all turn to dirt, just like you and me. DD
MLK threw his life into making the world a better place. Until Kobe finds a way to do something more for the world than sell Nikes and Sprite, you can't even compare the two. j
