Kobe Bryant: the Misunderstanding and the Redemption

After more than 11 years in the bright lights of Hollywood, its scary to say Kobe Bryant might be looking for a change of scenery.

Bryant’s initial season in Los Angeles ended in heart break with a loss to the Utah Jazz in the semi-finals of the Western Conference Play-offs, but soon after, a dynasty was born in the City of Angels that not many saw coming. Shaquille went from a man-child to a man and Bryant blossomed before our eyes into the top player in the world. The young man who seemed to be destined for stardom after winning the slam dunk contest at the ripe age of nineteen, turned into the player that no one wanted to guard.

After what seemed like three failry tale seasons in Los Angeles he Lakers fell to the Spurs in Western Conference finals to in 2003 and all hell began to break loose. Kobe and Shaq were at each others throats. Kobe told management if Shaq remained on the team, he would opt out of his contract the following year and become a free agent and soon enough, the dynasty began to crumble.

In 2004, with The Diesel still in purple and gold the, and with newly added aging veterans Karl Malone and Gary Peyton joined the squad with hopes of putting them back over the west. The plan worked until the finals came around and the Lakers wer rolled by the Pistons in what seemed to be a five-game sweep.

From there, the walls on Bryant's castle came crashing down around him.

Shaq was dealt to the Miami Heat for Lamar Odom and all-star Caron Butler who was later traded by the team, for Kwame Brown of all people. Malone went back into retirement. Peyton followed Shaquille to South Beach through free agency, and Phil Jackson hit the dusty trail only to write a book about his time in L.A. which aired the dirty laundry of his entire campaign with the Lakers. Kobe took most of the blame.

That brings us to today.

The money is not the issue and neither is the commute from Newport Beach each morning to the Lakes facilities.

It's management.

Mitch Kupchake has done a magnificent job of pissing off the best all around player in the world the past few seasons.

He traded away Shaquille O’Neal a few years back only to watch Shaq win another title with another all-star guard. Soon after, Bryant saw more blockbuster NBA trades that didn't involve his team in any fashion. While the Lakes struggled to stay above .500 last the past few seasons: the Nuggets acquired Allen Iverson for next to nothing; the Celtics somehow brought Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett to Bean-Town in less than ten days of work; The Hawks snagged Joe Johnson and Mike Bibby; The Bulls grabbed Ben Wallace; The Mavs picked up Jason Kidd; and Knicks brought in Zach Randolph from Portland.

The Kevin Garnett deal was the one that undeniably broke the camels back. It was no secret that Kevin Garnett wanted out of Minnesota and the Timberwolves management made it happen.

Bryant had been all but begging the team to trade him due to their lack of ability to acquire another star to help him out. This is when you began to understand Bryant’s frustration. Lets take a step back and look at the situation with an unbiased eye.

You are Kobe Bryant:

You’re not getting any younger.

Your team traded away the most dominate player in the world and received almost nothing in return.

You asked to be traded, but the team insisted on keeping you and promised to get you some help

During this time, you sit back and watch eight different all-stars get traded for almost nothing...

I think it's safe to say that those things would make just about all of us hate our jobs too.

Kobe is just like everybody else in the world... okay maybe not, we all don't have Newport Beach mansion, supermodel wives, and more money than we could spend in a lifetime, so lets just say he’s like every other star athlete. He has everything else in life, now he just wants to win.

He was spoiled by winning immediately when he came into the league and now its been taken from him cold turkey, only a fool wouldn't hate that feeling.

The Lakers and our boy Mitch have recently stepped up to the plate and brought in Derek Fisher, a former teammate of Kobe’s in the most recent stint of Laker glory days.

The real move that has put the Lakers over the top has been the late season acquisition of Pau Gasol. Pau not only has added a jolt of life to a Laker line that needed a major boost after the injury to a surging Andrew Bynum, a big man. In The West it is a not only a valued commodity, its a must.

Since coming to Hollywood, Pau pushed the Lakers past the Hornets to grab the top spot in the western conference play-offs and averaged a double-double while doing so. So far throughout the 2008 post-season, Pau and Kobe have turned into the dynamic duo, blasting the Denver Nuggets and their two braided stars by double digits every game so far on there way to a very foreseeable sweep.

This validates Kobe’s early-season frustrations. If you give him the slightest bit of help, real "help", the guy will turn a team into a champion. No more double and triple-teams, now teams must match up one on one or pay the price.

Kobe’s been more unselfish with the rock since Pau’s arrival.  Averaging 28 points per game, his lowest output in three seasons, due having more trust in his teammates to carry their own weight.

In the Western Conference Finals for the first time in the post Shaq era, Bryant and the Lakers look to surge past either the Spurs (who have always given the Lakers fits) or the young, upstart Hornets.