Kobe Bryant: Love Him Or Hate Him, Just Do so Fairly
Over the past several weeks, Kobe Bryant has had attained several achievements. He and his teammates won the NBA championship for the second consecutive year, he was awarded the Finals MVP award, and he was recently crowned the "America's Favorite Athlete" honor.
These accomplishments made Laker and Kobe fans extremely happy, and non-Kobe fans, extremely angry. Kobe Bryant is likely one of the most loved and hated athletes playing today. Although a Kobe fan, I don't particularly resent people for hating Kobe Bryant. To each their own. What I do resent, however, is hatred based on false premise.
Let's review some of these false premises: Kobe is a rapist, Kobe forced Shaq out of town, Kobe is a horrible person. There are others, but these are the main ones that people seem to be focusing on.
Now, let's look at the facts: Kobe was guilty of cheating on his wife, Kobe and Shaq were both responsible for the breakup of that Laker team, along with the Laker organization as a whole. Lastly, it is extremely difficult and unfair to classify someone as a horrible person.
It seems that when some people, not all, hate Kobe Bryant, they utilize false premises to build on a schema in which Kobe is a horrible human being, and doesn't deserve any credit for what he has, or hasn't done. This is simply not fair.
Kobe Bryant is an extremely driven athlete. He is not the strongest, the fastest, the most gifted, the tallest, the most agile, or the smartest athlete in the league. However, his unrelenting drive to succeed, his hard work, and his determination are unparalleled and have yielded five championships, two finals MVP awards, an MVP award, and countless other honors.
Above all, these personal characteristics, not personality, account for his recent award of "America's Favorite Athlete". They reflect American culture and values collectively. One of the fundamental values of our society is that hard work and determination pay off, in essence, the American dream. Anything is possible in America, and Kobe Bryant exemplifies this concept.
When there is such strong hatred for an individual, there is also an unconscious tendency to exaggerate, or falsify information that leads to ego preservation, which is filled with hatred for that individual.
Now, on the other side, I will say that many Kobe fans are also blind to this unconditional positive regard for Kobe Bryant. I am sure this is what irritates many "Kobe-Haters" if you will. It drives people don't necessarily love Kobe Bryant absolutely insane when people refuse to see his flaws.
Kobe is not flawless: he did cheat on his wife, he did act like a spoiled brat in his earlier years, he did distrust his teammates until recently. However, he grew, he matured, and he developed a very, very wise approach to the game. He now trusts his teammates, especially Pau Gasol and Derek Fisher, almost blindly. He gives credit where it is due, in Ron Artest, in Andrew Bynum, in Pau Gasol, amongst others. He also accepts that he can not play well every single game, referencing to his comments after a Game 7 victory over the Celtics for this past NBA Championship.
Kobe is aware of his shortcomings, as we all should be of ourselves, not just of Kobe Bryant. However, he is also aware of his already legendary status, and uses it for ego gratification purposes as any superstar would, and probably should.
It is not a crime to hate Kobe Bryant. It is however ungrounded, unfair, and slandering to hate Kobe on false premise and misconception.
