Kobe vs. The Lakers

Where to begin? It seems to me these days that 95 percent of the time athletes are on the news it’s because of what they’re doing off the court/field/rink/what have you. Now maybe that’s due to the trashy magazine approach that ESPN and others are taking when it comes to athletes but sometimes the athletes do go out of their way to get noticed.

Take Kobe Bryant for example. Recently he’s become very vocal about wanting to be traded from the Lakers. Over the Memorial Day weekend he was interviewed over the radio stating that he wanted to be trading and then later stating that he wanted to bring another championship to Los Angeles. Add to that his open letter on his website and his crazy rant in a parking lot, you’ve got someone who’s going to be all the talk of sports radio and ESPN.

Is Kobe wrong to want to be traded? Absolutely not. Could he find a better, less crazy way to express that desire? Absolutely. I liken his behavior to a spoiled child throwing a temper tantrum. I of course don’t know all the details as I really don’t follow the NBA too much, but whoever Kobe’s agent is, he’s certainly not doing the best job. Working in college sports one of the things I’ve learned is you don’t want your athlete’s shooting their mouths off because it does nothing but make your university look bad. In Kobe’s case he’s only making himself look bad because he’s distancing himself from his team.

Will Kobe be in L.A. next season? Only time will tell but as for now Phil Jackson seems to think so.