Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Kobe Bryant Was The NBA’s Last Apolitical Superstar
Hot Air ^ | February 1, 2020 | Hot Air

Posted on 02/01/2020 4:40:26 PM PST by GuavaCheesePuff

Over the course of Kobe’s 20-year-long career, he remained consistently silent on political issues, in a way that by the time of his retirement seemed wildly anachronistic. Bryant’s apolitical attitude reflected the individual-focused, Jordan-era status quo in which he entered the league, but it eventually made him out of step with his younger counterparts, who have largely taken up the activist mantle of older icons like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson. Today’s NBA stars are eager not only to use their platform to amplify political and social causes, but to establish activism as a responsibility in its own right, as LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and others did at the ESPY Awards in 2016. Even prominent head coaches like Steve Kerr and Gregg Popovich—who are demographically more likely to be Trump supporters than liberal agitators—have earned reputations for speaking out against police shootings and the Trump administration in the bluntest terms…

(Excerpt) Read more at hotair.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Sports
KEYWORDS: antipope; homosexualagenda; kobe; kobebryant; loveaffairwithkobe; nba; ntsa; politics; popefrancis; romancatholicism
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-73 next last

1 posted on 02/01/2020 4:40:26 PM PST by GuavaCheesePuff
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: GuavaCheesePuff

Precisely why I no longer watch the nba.....they got woke!


2 posted on 02/01/2020 4:43:12 PM PST by ealgeone
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GuavaCheesePuff

I went to many Laker games when I was a kid. Oscar Robertson was the biggest @$$@#$% of any player I ever saw.


3 posted on 02/01/2020 4:43:30 PM PST by vespa300
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GuavaCheesePuff

Oh BS.

He was a big supporter of taking a knee.

“Over the course of Kobe’s 20-year-long career, he remained consistently silent on political issues,”


4 posted on 02/01/2020 4:53:33 PM PST by 2banana (My common ground with islamic terrorists - they want to die for allah and we want to kill them.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: vespa300

Jordan give the perfect answer why he stand out of politics. “Republicans buy tennis shoes too.”


5 posted on 02/01/2020 4:56:00 PM PST by Megiddox69
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: 2banana

Yep. Kobe was woke.


6 posted on 02/01/2020 4:56:25 PM PST by 9YearLurker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Megiddox69

give = gave


7 posted on 02/01/2020 4:58:09 PM PST by Megiddox69
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: GuavaCheesePuff

Except when he stole the putananny


8 posted on 02/01/2020 4:59:38 PM PST by BusterDog
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: vespa300

how so?


9 posted on 02/01/2020 5:01:09 PM PST by romanesq (8Chan and its child porn, violence and murders are kaput. So is the QAnon grift with it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: 2banana

“Oh BS.

He was a big supporter of taking a knee.”

****

Yup. I remembered that. I get it with this drama for 2 days but this nonsense about replacing Jerry West logo for the NBA is just that: emotional crap. I know, Im in L.A. and saw ALL those championships in town. But time to move on.


10 posted on 02/01/2020 5:01:53 PM PST by max americana (Fired ONE libtard at work at every election since 2008 because I enjoy them crying)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: GuavaCheesePuff
I'm not seeing Zion Williamson as going political on us.

The kid can play basketball and enjoys the game and playing with his teammates.

11 posted on 02/01/2020 5:04:09 PM PST by aposiopetic
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: romanesq

Asked him for an autograph one night after getting Jerry West’s autograph. When he refused, I mentioned to him that Jerry had given me his just minutes before. At the time, he and West were considered the 2 best guards in the game.

He went off on me like no player ever had. Stopping, turning around, screaming angry at me for asking for his autograph and mentioning Jerry West. I was shocked as were those around me. He made a fool of himself. An angry man yelling at a kid and out of control.


12 posted on 02/01/2020 5:11:33 PM PST by vespa300
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: vespa300

Maybe he had a bad night. No reason to go mental. But even the Big O is a human being with faults.

Perhaps he didn’t like being compared to someone else.

I never understood the focus on an autograph. I always thought a few words would be more valuable if you liked someone. But that’s just me who thinks having someone look down and focus on a piece of paper is less of an interaction.


13 posted on 02/01/2020 5:13:35 PM PST by romanesq (8Chan and its child porn, violence and murders are kaput. So is the QAnon grift with it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: 9YearLurker

“Yep. Kobe was woke.”

True, but apparently not too sharp - flying with a helicopter service that wasn’t IFR certified. I suspect his family (what’s left of them) wishes they had paid the slightly higher cost for an all-weather transport service.


14 posted on 02/01/2020 5:17:31 PM PST by BobL (I eat at McDonald's and shop at Walmart - I just don't tell anyone.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: romanesq

Yeah, or he was just an A hole.


15 posted on 02/01/2020 5:18:13 PM PST by vespa300
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: GuavaCheesePuff

Garbage. There are plenty of great NBA players who keep their politics to themselves. Remember, most truly wealthy people (and this is true of most of the NBA, MLB and NFL players - check the league minimum salaries), LIKE keeping more of their money and more than a few become closet conservatives but they know it is not in their best interests to come out as conservatives so they keep their mouths shut.

Remember when that SF cornerback said he didn’t want any gays in his locker room and the media hounded him for weeks? That’s what happens if you don’t spout the liberal line but, behind closed doors, their cheering Trump and the GOP. Those folks are helping them keep their money.


16 posted on 02/01/2020 5:22:01 PM PST by OrangeHoof (The Democrats - Unafraid to burn in Hell.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: aposiopetic

Zion will be forced to, if he is in the locker room and politics is brought up and he doesn’t say anything, he’ll be branded as a Uncle Tom.


17 posted on 02/01/2020 5:25:03 PM PST by GuavaCheesePuff (I want to thank the Good Lord for making me a Yankee-Old Yankee Stadium (1923-2008))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: OrangeHoof

True, in a sense.

I think a lot of black athletes are Republican, but they can’t speak out.


18 posted on 02/01/2020 5:26:03 PM PST by GuavaCheesePuff (I want to thank the Good Lord for making me a Yankee-Old Yankee Stadium (1923-2008))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: aposiopetic

So far...you know he’s just a rookie. Give it time.


19 posted on 02/01/2020 5:27:30 PM PST by max americana (Fired ONE libtard at work at every election since 2008 because I enjoy them crying)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: GuavaCheesePuff

Lol I don’t think they are GOP but I believe , those majority who are quiet, did vote for Trump. Case in point. I know a certain studio I deal with here that is choc full of libs and during the past 3 years confided they voted for Trump.


20 posted on 02/01/2020 5:31:48 PM PST by max americana (Fired ONE libtard at work at every election since 2008 because I enjoy them crying)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-73 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson