Kobe Bryant Denies Rift with Dwyane Wade After Broken Nose
Kobe Bryant has continued to deny that there is a rift between him and Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade following the hard foul Bryant took from Wade in the NBA All-Star Game last week that resulted in a broken nose for the Lakers star.
""I've known Dwyane for years now," Bryant said after the Lakers' 104-85 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday, a game in which Bryant was cleared to play shortly before tipoff after appearing asymptomatic from the concussion Wade's hit caused. "It's always entertaining to me to hear people talk about our relationship as if they know really what's going on and try to say there's something between them and all this other stuff. It was very simple. It was very simple. He didn't mean to do it. It's just something that just happens. He's not that type of person."
"He's a nicer guy than I am, to be honest with you," Bryant said. "He's just not the type of person who would intentionally do something like that."
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This whole issue has been made into something it's not. I truly believe Wade and Bryant are not enemies and that what happened during Sunday's All-Star Game in Orlando was just a result of being competitive.
Wade and Bryant are two of the most competitive basketball players of this generation, and that competitive fire doesn't die down in exhibition games.
Wade reportedly apologized to Bryant this week after the incident, and both players have repeatedly denied their is no rift between them.
Sure the hard foul by Wade occurred in a meaningless All-Star Game, which is why some people are angry because they think stuff like hard fouls have no place in exhibition games. However, the West was running up the score, evidenced by their record setting 88 points scored in the first half, the most in All-Star Game history.
The East was tired of it and got down to business by playing tougher, more physical defense, and the strategy nearly worked as they were one Deron Williams missed shot at the end of the game from pulling off a thrilling comeback.
Winning these games does matter to the players, which is why the fourth quarters of All-Star Games are generally quite competitive.
This situation could have a real positive for the Lakers. If Bryant really is angry over this incident with Wade, then the rest of the NBA is in trouble.
An angry Bryant is an unstoppable Bryant, and the Heat may find that out the hard way when the two teams meet in Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon.
Nicholas Goss is an NBA Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report, follow him on Twitter
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