Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Kobe Bryant

I’m watching the Kobe Bryant Showtime documentary Kobe Bryant’s Muse right now. My curiosity is piqued because not only is Kobe a hyper-intelligent, self-aware guy who I listen to if talking, but he’s the real descendant to Bird/Magic/MJ when it comes to being a cold-blooded killer at the end of the game. Even as a Celtics fan, I admitted this a few years ago re: him vs. Lebron.

A few thoughts on the documentary:

This thing is duller than shit.

There's no tragedy or mountain for Kobe to climb to become who he is. No rival. No rags to riches story. We always forget, but his father was an NBA player. Under dramatic doc-styled overtones, we learn a few things about Kobe as a kid.

Basketball was his obsession! OMG gee, that makes him like EVERY OTHER GREAT NBA PLAYER EVER.

And then of course there’s

Basketball was his salvation!  OMG gee, that makes him like EVERY OTHER GREAT NBA PLAYER EVER.

The doc is centered around his defiant "fuck you!" comeback from an Achilles heel injury…during his 18th season. As in, nobody cares.  Wanna show us you can do it? Okay, great (and he did). But who cares?

This is just another in a long line of athletes who have created windmills for themselves to some story that doesn't exist (calling Agent Zero). Kobe Bryant is a great basketball player. One of the best of all time. I'm sorry his story is nowhere as near as compelling as, say, Bird/Magic, but it isn't. He's no more exciting a character than Tim Duncan. And that doesn't have to be a bad thing.

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