The Kobe conundrum

From: showbizandstyle.inquirer.net
View source article here.
By Adrian Dy

MANILA, Philippines—“Si Shaq na nga lang dapat ’yung pumunta dito, hindi si Kobe. Mas mabait si Shaq (Shaq should have come here instead of Kobe, Shaq is nicer),” someone whispered as we counted the minutes until Kobe Bryant showed up for his Supernatural press conference. It was a comment that was out of place at that moment, but not unheard of in the world of basketball-holics and hoops heads.

Named after the famous Japanese beef, it seems as if Kobe has courted controversy from the start of his NBA career. Selected 13th by the then-Charlotte Hornets, Bryant was the first guard drafted out of high school. He was also the first high school guard to hold out, refusing to play for the team that selected him. Fifteen days after the draft, the Los Angeles Lakers offered the Hornets their starting center Vlade Divac in a trade of Bryant. The rest is history.

In sharp contrast to the journalist who made the Shaq comment, a group of 20-something guys were seated at a table, swapping stories of their favorite moments involving Bryant. They had the latest issue of Slam Magazine left open to the centerfold poster of Bryant. They also held up a large poster of the Laker. It was unlikely that Bryant would be doing signings, but if he did, they were ready.

With Shaquille O’Neal as Bryant’s partner on the latter’s second year and with Phil Jackson as head coach, the Lakers went for back-to-back-to-back NBA Championships from 2000-2002. Individually, Bryant’s stock also rose, garnering multiple All-Star nods, All-Defensive Selections, and All-NBA selections. Unbeknownst to Bryant, in two years time, he would go through one of the most difficult periods of his life: the rape case against him.

‘Mabuhay’

Kobe Bryant took centerstage at around 1 p.m., two hours late. Despite the mutterings and “we want Kobe!” cheers that broke out over and over while people waited, all the negative feelings disappeared the moment he took the stage, greeting us with the customary foreigner-on-Philippine-soil greeting of “Mabuhay!”

Lest we forget, he was here to hawk his new line of shoes, telling us that he was constantly trying to “push the boundaries of product development, to push the game, to make shoes perform better, [and be] lighter, softer.” When Bryant walks into a shoe meeting, he says that he just throws out all sorts of ideas, and Nike always faithfully translates them into merchandise.

Four years ago, the superstar lost a gaggle of sponsors when he was slapped with a sexual assault case. The rape investigation was merely the start of a tumultuous season punctuated by a slew of public clashes between him and Shaq, ending in the Lakers’ collapse in the NBA Finals to the Detroit Pistons.

The off-season that followed was even murkier. Depending on whom you believe, Bryant might or might not have forced management to choose between O’Neal and him. O’Neal was later shipped out east to the Miami Heat. Phil Jackson’s contract was also not renewed. For better or for worse, the Lakers were now to be known as “Kobe’s Team.”

Charity event

Bryant came to the Philippines to “spread the love of the game to future basketball players.”

When discussing his charity event, which would happen immediately following the press conference, he said that it was “extremely important. [It is] an honor and blessing to play basketball, [you] get lots of opportunities to help people.”

He is a man who is deeply devoted to his craft. He famously lost 20 pounds when he signed up for the US National Team that went undefeated in the recently concluded FIBA Tournament of the Americas. He called his training regime, “Blackout,” because of its intensity. He explained even he had “blacked out” while doing it. It worked though.

In a team with a lot of scorers like Lebron James, Michael Redd and Carmelo Anthony, Bryant eagerly took the role of defensive stopper, shutting down the smaller guards of other teams like Leandro Barbosa and Carlos Arroyo. It also showed a new dimension of Bryant, that of a facilitator, a team player. For most people, it was an eye-opener.

The 2004-2005 season was a disaster for Bryant. Coach Rudy Tomjanovich resigned in the middle of the season and the team missed the playoffs. Things picked up dramatically with the return of Phil Jackson as coach in the 2005-2006 season. That was the season of “81,” when Bryant scored the second highest point total by a player in an NBA game. The Lakers also returned to the playoffs that year, taking a 3-1 lead against the Phoenix Suns in their first-round match-up. They were unable to seal the deal, however, and the Suns rallied to take the next four games and advance.

Role model

When asked if he considered himself a role model, Bryant was humble, sort of, saying, “When people talk of role models, society assumes they’re perfect. But the definition of role model is someone we should learn from. Kids should learn from his or her mistakes.”

Bryant did wisecrack that the trait that made him so appealing to kids was the fact that he “ditched school” before confessing that it was really because he lived each day as though it were his last. In fact, Bryant was like that for most of the interview.

True, he wasn’t the laugh-out-loud clown that O’Neal is in interviews, but he did possess a dry wit that was refreshing.

Bryant further endeared himself to the female portion of the audience by taking off his shirt and leaving on just a jersey top that emphasized his sleek, muscular arms.

Bryant continued to shine in the recently concluded NBA season. He won his second straight NBA scoring title, helped out by four consecutive 50-point games and ten 50-point games total in the season.

History repeated itself however, and the Lakers were once again routed by the Phoenix Suns in the playoffs. Controversy reared its head again when Bryant demanded to be traded if Jerry West, the former general manager who brought in Bryant himself, did not return to the Lakers to replace Mitch Kupchak. He later denied his trade demand, but followed that up three days later with another trade request. Three hours after that, he rescinded his comments yet again.

Singing a new tune

Without a doubt, Bryant needs some help if the Lakers are to get past the first round of the playoffs, and even more help if they want to win a championship. It is common knowledge that Bryant is irritated at management for not getting him that help, turning down his requests to trade for, at various times, Baron Davis, Ron Artest, Jason Kidd, and Jermaine O’Neal.

He managed to downplay it though, saying that “whatever happens, happens” when asked if he expected any new faces to join him in training camp. Furthermore, he joked that he would like “the entire Team USA” on the Lakers if they had the cap space.

It isn’t hard to paint Bryant as a diva, as a selfish player looking out for himself rather than for the good of the team. After seeing him in person and hearing him speak though, one cannot help but sing a new tune.

“We’re all just trying to raise the game,” he said when asked for some parting words. And while raising his game is something he does all the time, here he was as well, raising the game of the kids from the Eliseo Belen Charity because he felt that doing so was as important as further refining his jump shot.