JAG’s Sports Blog

Kobe Bryant appeared Monday night on Stephen A. Smith’s sports talk show on ESPN2 to give his opinion on an array of subjects and I was pleasantly surprised. It appeared early this would be another politically correct interview with Bryant, but he finally warmed up and seemed to give some honest answers.

Kobe discussed his feelings on scoring 81 points and Vince Carter’s comments on it not being a good example to young players that might only focus on scoring a lot and not wanting to play team ball after seeing Bryant get off. Kobe basically said nothing and kept measuring his responses even as Stephen A. kept trying to ratchet up the debate by commenting “of all people, Carter seemed the least likely person to be talking about this with his fundamentally unsound game.” Kobe wouldn’t bite with any kind of negative comment and I was all but ready to turn the station, if not for the preview they had shown earlier on ESPN news of what Shaq and Kobe had to say about each other.

Stephen A. is a perceptive man and he noticed that every time Kobe would squint his eyes, that he said something that Kobe felt strong about. When asked where he got such an assassin’s attitude (Allen Iverson said this about Kobe) from on the court, Kobe just said he didn’t know. It somewhat started in Italy where people told him that even though he was good there, players in the states were bigger, faster, quicker and just better. He wouldn’t be able to hang with them. Being good in Italy was one thing, but basketball in the states was different. Kobe said this made him determined to prove he could play anywhere.

Kobe decided he didn’t know if he was good enough to turn pro after high school, but he was going to go for it because he’d get better just going up against the best in the world every day in practice. If Kobe hadn’t gone pro, he planned on going to Duke, but decided there wasn’t more he could learn in college that he couldn’t learn in the professional ranks. Stephen A. Brought up Kobe’s most embarrassing moment as a pro in the playoffs against Utah when he shot airball after airball as a rookie. He talked about how every shot felt good, therefore he kept shooting it. That negative game made him work harder because his trainer and Kobe felt his conditioning was bad and those airballs could be buckets with a better conditioning workout.

Stephen A. got into Kobe’s relationship with Shaquille O’Neal in trying to figure out what went wrong. Magic Johnson said he tried to tell them both that they were better off with each other over going their separate ways. Kobe said it was never a personal thing with each other because playing with Shaq was very easy. When asked if he was responsible for Shaq leaving, Kobe sticks with the response that Jerry Buss (Lakers owner) made a business decision and decided to let Shaq go. I somewhat accept this because Shaq would have expected another $25 million a year to stay in Los Angeles and he was not keeping himself in very good basketball shape. Kobe addressed that issue and said Shaq may not have liked him saying it, but he doesn’t regret commenting about it because that was part of his job. He had to get guys going to be ready. Kobe said his main regret was speaking about it publicly because the press was looking for something to grab hold of and run with.

Kobe was happy that Shaq came up to him on Martin Luther King Day and greeted him because it was a good example for kids to know that two stars could get over their problems and be civil to each other. Both Shaq and Kobe basically wished each other well and have moved on with their careers. Again, Kobe said it wasn’t personal and that in the end, he wanted challenges in his career because he kind of got tired of people and he means his peers also saying he couldn’t win without Shaq and they would also have 3 rings if they played with Shaq. Kobe said he actually looked at houses in Chicago because he was probably going to Chicago or playing with the LA Clippers.

One of the last subjects that came up, which it sounded like Stephen A. was going to blow off was the Colorado fiasco. Kobe sounded like he wasn’t going to answer anything, but he basically said he learned that God is great. You don’t know how powerful he is until you see him able to carry the burdens of the cross and you together. He was more worried about his wife and how she felt more than himself. She was and still is there for him and now they are expecting another daughter in may. He’s just glad they hung in together and are able to keep their family together and growing. He talked about how she pushes him to get even better and he’s grateful to her for that.

Kobe spoke of the most important things to him as a player was having the respect of his peers in the game. They understand what you go through and for them to respect what you do is important. Allen Iverson used Kobe as an example when he spoke of fans and the media wanting you to be what they want you to be and turning on you when you don’t fit that image. He spoke how Kobe had never done anything wrong and people were glad, but some still said he was fake and when the Colorado incident happened, the media and fans turned on him. Iverson pretty much is giving advice to be yourself and happy with who you are instead of trying to be someone else’s idea of the perfect person.

If you’re a Kobe Bryant fan or not, I think this was an excellent interview because he really seemed to finally open up and didn’t stick to the tried and true politically correct interview. He feels like a marked man at times, but doesn’t intend to sit back and just take whatever comes at him from anyone in the league. Check out the replay on Stephen A. Smith’s show “Quite Frankly”. Most any question you may have had will be answered. Not to mention, Stephen A. Smith really uses his relationship and status with the players to his complete advantage. They’ll talk to him much more than with just any other reporter.