Kallas: Kobe Bryant Simply Doesn't Get It, And He Showed That On Sunday
By Steve Kallas
» More Columns
By now you've probably seen or heard some of the tweets sent out by Kobe Bryant during Sunday's Lakers loss in Game 1 against San Antonio. Here's just a brief sample:
After the game, a bothered Mike D'Antoni was asked about Bryant tweeting that the Lakers should get the ball down low to Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard. D'Antoni, clearly unhappy, simply stated, "That's what we did."
The Lakers coach then said, "It's great to have that commentary." He then went on to state that Bryant, right now, is "a fan."
Bryant responded with another tweet:
WHAT WAS KOBE THINKING?
Obviously, he wasn't. Once upon a time, a leader would get into a huddle during a timeout or take a player to the side and express what he (the leader) thought would be best for the team. With a sensitive guy like Gasol, probably the worst thing you could do is make what should be a private comment public. That's what Bryant did over and over again with those tweets.
Whether he understands that or not is an entirely different question.
IS KOBE JUST STARVED FOR ATTENTION?
That's certainly what it looks like. After putting in an amazing effort to put the Lakers on the verge of the playoffs, Bryant tore his Achilles and is done for the year (the Lakers then went on to make the playoffs without him). Now just "a fan" (according to his coach), he still needs the attention.
How do we know? How about this tweet from Bryant the day before Game 1:
https://twitter.com/kobebryant/statuses/325610783952236544
Yikes!
When he put the hashtag "nostupidquestions" at the end of that tweet, he should have committed himself to not making any stupid tweets and not criticizing his teammates publicly.
Obviously, he didn't.
MAYBE HE GETS IT NOW?
Probably not. After the postgame furor, Bryant sent this tweet:
Not again? What did he think was going to happen? Bryant does this to himself. An intelligent guy on and off the court, he, like some other adults (and many more kids), doesn't understand the potential power (and stupidity) of tweeting.
Especially when you are publicly critical of your teammates when, in the past, virtually all of that criticism would have been done privately.
Here's hoping that there is somebody with a brain who has Bryant's ear and can tell him all of the above. If he has to tweet, maybe they can tell him to stay positive. If he has to criticize, maybe they can tell him to just keep it to himself.
At a minimum, his coach and his teammates will be thankful if he does keep it to himself. Or, if physically possible, maybe he should be on the bench with his teammates -- what a concept!
Bryant is smarter than this. But he just doesn't get it.
Hopefully he will now.
Are you OK with what Kobe did on Sunday, or do you think his tweets were in bad taste and immature? Sound off with your thoughts and comments below...
