Posted on 04/01/2014 1:33:17 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Like the rest of the world, I was stunned to hear Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant argue that it was somehow an unecessary burden for a black man to stand in support of the late Trayvon Martin. If anything, the Trayvon Martin case brought black people together in ways that we haven’t seen since the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The case was clear cut: Trayvon had no weapon. He wasn’t bothering anybody. He was stalked out and murdered for appearing to look like a “thug.” George Zimmerman is a free man and later showed that he is every bit as violent as the world believed him to be. Case closed.
Even NBA athletes, many of whom have been intimidated to sleep by a world that has become obsessed with empty materialism, stood in unity with Trayvon. The biggest stars in the league, including LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, gave touching tributes to the young teen who didn’t deserve to die. Their leadership helped to inspire a nation, and I applaud them for it.
But Kobe Bryant is a bit different. He wants to be a replica of Michael Jordan, the man he could never quite match up to on the court. He Kobe Bryant inherited nearly all of Jordan’s personality traits, both good and bad, as if he’d been studying him since he was a child. Unlike LeBron James, who’s been able to win championships without becoming a clone of someone else, Kobe has become every bit as aloof, as disrespectful, as robotic, as simple-minded, as disconnected as the original Air Jordan himself.
This makes me sad, since Kobe Bryant could have been so much more than the empty, unhappy man he is today.
Here are five disturbing realizations about Kobe Bryant that we should keep in mind. It might help put his sloppy words about Trayvon Martin into their proper context:
1) He, quite frankly, appears to be a selfish a**hole: I won’t even go into the oddities of Kobe’s sexual assault case many years ago, where he was revealed to be the married man having unprotected sex with a woman he’d met an hour earlier just a few years after Magic Johnson announced that he had HIV. If sleeping with random women unprotected and risking your wife’s health isn’t the root of selfishness, I don’t know what is.
We can also talk about the way Kobe Bryant’s spent his career jacking up ill-advised shots and attacking his teammates in public. I’ve always loved Kobe’s game when he’s playing well, but I’ve never wanted to meet him. Kobe is like the 14th century astronomers who thought that the sun revolved around the earth. But instead, Kobe believes that the universe revolves about himself and won’t hear anything different.
2) He’s one-dimensional: For LeBron James, life appears to be a mixture of possibilities, with as much meaning to be found off the court as on it. Dwyane Wade is every bit as committed to fatherhood as he is to dribbling and shooting. For Kobe, there is nothing but basketball, basketball, basketball and more basketball. He drives his teammates insane with his “win or die” mentality, and it probably makes him very difficult to play with. While this might be what it takes for him to win NBA titles, it can also make you into a horrible person. Once again, I ask you to take a look at Michael Jordan’s hurtful, nasty Hall of Fame speech as a great case-in-point.
3) He’s arrogant: Kobe’s confidence has served him well throughout the years, helping him rise to some of the most significant achievements in his sport. But arrogance can also rob you of your ability to empathize with others. Kobe’s decision to engage in ad hoc social commentary on an issue so important to so many people is reflective of a man who simply doesn’t give a damn. I was hurt by Kobe Bryant’s remarks, since it’s sad to see one of our most prominent black men have more commitment to making McDonald’s commercials than he has to saving the lives of young black men like himself. Kobe could have just said, “no comment.”
4) He’s materialistic: If a corporation were to pay Kobe to say something, he’d say it without hesitation. Men like Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan would buckdance for chicken if there is enough money involved. But the mere idea that standing up for your community is the right thing to do seems to escape them, like trying to teach a ballerina to shoot an AK-47. Maybe black people just aren’t as profitable as the white ones.
5) He’s disconnected: Jim Brown made compelling points about Kobe’s lack of connection to the black community during a recent interview on the Arsenio Hall Show. Brown, like Muhammad Ali, is one of the greatest athletes of all time (as good or better than Kobe Bryant himself), and it wasn’t just because he dominated men on the field. Brown is one of the greatest because he understood the importance of using his power to elevate the circumstances of the community that had given him so much. Kobe’s inability to commit himself to something greater than himself makes him an extraordinary athlete, but a pathetic human being.
I hope that Kobe Bryant retracts his statements and keeps his social commentary to himself. It’s ironic that a man who begged for sympathy after cheating on his wife with no protection can’t provide a lick of understanding for an unarmed teenager who had his future stolen by a deranged, racist, vigilante. People didn’t support Trayvon just because he was black. They supported him because it was the right thing to do.
I also find it ironic that a man like Bryant will remain completely silent when it comes to speaking up for black America, but becomes bold and vocal when given an incentive to trash us. Sitting on the bench in the fight for racial justice is bad enough, but it’s even worse when you work with our enemies to deliberately sabotage progress that is being made. This turns us into Django and turns Kobe Bryant into Samuel L. Jackson’s character, who got shot in his a** at the end of the movie. It’s a myth to believe that a racist has to be white…there are black racists all around us.
Kobe Bryant, grow up brother, it’s not always about you. This one is about the black community.
I always thought that the short-barreled 9mm was on the light side for self-defense.
Now, maybe not.
I have to wonder, what is the author’s beef with Jordan?
Citing his HOF speech and saying it was ‘evil’, oh jeez, I thought it was one of the funniest I ever heard!
Than again, as a native of Chicago, I do luv my Mikey.
So, lil Tray was harmless and unarmed? Facts don’t matter here it seems. So exhausted of this rewritten story, it’s a bore.
Field Hand: Quittin time! Quittin time!
Big Sam - Field Foreman: Who says its quittin time?
Field Hand: I says its quittin time!
Big Sam - Field Foreman: I’s the foreman. I’s the one who says when its quittin time at Tara. Quittin time!
It's war, is what it is. The writer of the article thinks there's a war on between blacks and whites, and he wants the blacks to have every advantage possible. He wants blacks fearless and whites helpless.
It's that simple.
The truth hurts. Trayvon Martin, Broken family, no guidance, no focus except being druggie and thug (cool in his world), was bad incident looking to happen...Zimmerman, unbalanced, would be law man, with bad flaws and perceptions. That’s it!!! African-American community better get real, Obama has thrown you all under the bus, your leaders are mostly Black racists, and that includes the NAACP & CBC, combined!!!
What’s needed...destruction of teacher unions, family life with mother & father, reduction of out-of-wedlock babies and Black folk assimilation into the general cultur of American life. time become Americans....folks!!! You know....like the Tuskegee Airmen, etc. I can assure you, Sharpton, Obama, Jackson, etc. ain’t ur ticket!!! They are keeping ya all down for political and power reason only!!! They could care less about you!!! Wise up!!!
Racial and ethnic supremacists don’t live in the real world. It’s a case of “How’s it feel to want?” Black Power is one thing but the idea of the supremacy of blacks over any other race is absolutely ridiculous with their record...
Speaking of records, there’s one superior black that I can name and that was Jimi Hendrix, an American-born musician and songwriter. He was superior to all other black guitarists and songwriters while he was alive. That’s MY idea of “Black Supremacy”!
This article is proof you do NOT wander off the plantation. It is disheartening that rational, reasonable, and critical thought will not come from any exchange with the Black Community as a whole. I do believe it’s getting worse.
If racial unrest follows Zimmerman jury decision, blame it on Activist Obama
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3042477/posts
This is reference to an editorial run in Canada Free Press. The Canadians got it right.! Too bad half of the so called conservatives talk show hosts I’ve been listening to can’t seem to be willing to connect the dots to what a heavy hand his imperious highness played in this example of socialist justice meted out to serve the policies of the state . Turning this into a show trial replete with wall to wall tv coverage.. Taking some poor guy of mixed race including black doing his job and painting a target on his back to fullfill a socialist agenda.
Until there is a willingness shown to confront and attribute Obama’s heavy hand in dividing this country to serve political purposes. Reports like this as well as killings will continue
He may have gotten a call from the won, Dept. of Just Us or the lizard.
How many women has Jim Brown physically abused compared to Kobe Bryant?
BTW, I’m not a Kobe fan.
Besides a past as a womanizer, Kobe’s actions don’t validate thug life?
“I always thought that the short-barreled 9mm was on the light side for self-defense. Now, maybe not.”
Personally I think anything less than 308 Win is a little light for self defense, but a battle rifle is a little big for CC.
So needs must I guess.
Of course with contact range and the entry point, .22 would have done the job.
He wasn't 'bothering' anybody 10 minutes before he was shot. When Trayvon was shot he was on top of a man beating his head against the concrete.
By the logic of the stupid, Zimmerman was eating a chicken pot pie - so he was totally innocent. What? You didn't know 30 minutes before this went down that George was innocently eating a chicken pot pie? So he wasn't 'guilty' of anything beyond eating a chicken pot pie.
Who would beat a man for eating a chicken pot pie?
Sometimes I wish our side was as stupid as their side... life would be so much easier.
If you will read Watkins bio on wiki you will find that as a fortyish man he has made it his duty to get up each day over the past couple decades and be a professional criticizer rather like his brothers Sharpton and Jesse.
He clearly is making his living on the broad subject of race. Some call this being a race pimp. In his defense somewhat, he did criticize BET calling them analogous to the KuKluxKlan.
Dr. Watkins, are you a LIAR, an indoctrinated FOOL, or both?
This is the first I've heard about it. Now I'll have to look it up, then another hero bites the dust.
Stand Your Ground, Kobe! You can take it!
POS author starts off with a great, big steaming pile of bullcrap ...
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