It's time to hop off the "Hate Kobe" bandwagon

Kobe Bryant is, at worst, the second-best player in the NBA. In thirteen seasons, he's won three NBA Championships (yes, they're HIS, too), an MVP award, two scoring titles, been an eleven-time All-Star, and owns all kinds of NBA records. He is universally recognized as the best closer in the game, and is three wins away from another NBA Championship (and first Finals MVP, if they win).

Yet, Kobe Bryant is probably the most hated player in the NBA, and has been for some time.

Since he's come into the league, he's been accused of being aloof, arrogant, vain, self-centered, out for dolo, and every other way that a player can be described as "selfish." People say he shoots too much or that he's not a good teammate; people throw in his face that he's not Michael Jordan. And they're right. Michael took way more shots than Kobe did.

I'm not saying he hasn't been a selfish player at times; he has been. I just don't think that's a reason to hate a player as much as Kobe is hated, because Kobe being selfish doesn't mean that his 81 points against Toronto wasn't amazing. But we all know that's not what this is about. After all, hating a player for being great is really stupid. Unfortunately for Kobe, he gave his detractors their reason for making their hatred legitimate.

He "snitched" on the beloved and untouchable Shaquille O'Neal. What a reprehensible act.

Now, I don't know what that has to with admitting that Kobe Bryant is a great player. I also don't know exactly when snitching became an unforgivable sin.

Was Kobe wrong for telling the police what he told them? Yeah, he was. At the same time, the man was being interrogated by the police over a rape charge, and this is a guy who (as far as I know) had never been in trouble with the police before. There's no telling what was going through his mind at the time. He was probably scared, because unlike so many of us, he actually had a lot to lose. You'll have to excuse him for not being a hardened criminal like the rest of Thug America. At 24 years old, he was too busy winning championships to get in shootouts with the police.

Personally, I don't hold that one against him. Shaq was understandably and rightfully upset with Kobe. Of course, Shaq also shouldn't have been cheating on his wife, but we can't expect superhuman behavior like that from our professional athletes. That's just silly.

But all of that happened in 2003 and Shaq has gotten past it. I don't know if he's actually forgiven Kobe, but they're on speaking terms again. Shaq has even expressed a desire to return to the Lakers when his Phoenix deal is up.

Yet, everyone else is still holding Kobe's youthful mistake against him. Remember, he was only 24 at the time. That was six years ago. You know how much dumb stuff people do in their early 20s? There's a long list of things on that list that are worse than what Kobe did. Now, how much of that do you want to keep having thrown in your face when you're 30?

How would you feel if your girl kept throwing in your face how you cheated on her in 2003? If it was me, she'd be talking to an empty room, because I would have left her in 2004. Who wants to be around someone who won't let go of the past?

There are so many of us preaching about forgiving our public figures; preaching about letting Michael Vick live his life now that he's out of jail, but not a day goes by that someone doesn't bring up that Kobe's "a snitch." Now, I could be crazy, but where I come from, financing and participating in a dogfighting operation is way worse than telling the police that Shaq uses hookers. We can forgive Michael Vick for committing an actual crime, but we can't let Kobe live this down? Is this real life or is this a Chris Rock stand-up special, because that's n-word logic at its finest.

The truth of the matter is that people didn't like Kobe since he left Lower Merion, and since they didn't have a valid reason not to like him (perceived arrogance is not a reason), they waited until something, anything presented itself and rode it into the ground. When it comes to Kobe Bryant, people act like middle school girls; treating Kobe like crap because both of you wore the same dress to the 'Enchantment Under the Sea" Dance. And here I was thinking that we were all grown-ups.

The only person he wronged was Shaq and the only person he needed to apologize to was Shaq. He must have done it, because we all know how touchy Shaq can be. If he hadn't apologized, Shaq probably would have released a single about it, with an accompanying dance by now. So unless people are somehow attuned to his soul and can still feel the unresolved hurt from Kobe's words, that should be the end of it.

I'm not defending any wrongs that Kobe has committed in his life, and that's not the point here. We all know he did wrong, but he didn't commit genocide or sodomize children; he wronged his teammate. Everybody makes mistakes, and in comparison to many of our own mistakes, his wasn't that bad. If you think you were worthy of forgiveness for yours, then you should probably let this one go. If you don't like Kobe, let it be for something that like might go in his Hall of Fame entry, like the time he crushed your team in the playoffs, Denver. Not because his rape trial was held in your state. A lot of things have changed since 2003.

And so has Kobe Bryant.

Turns out the Lakers aren't old men

So the Lakers DO have the energy of someone younger than 60 years old.

For most of these playoffs, we have watched the Lakers sleepwalk through games like a team that has already won three or four championships. Luke Walton had me thinking he was actually a spy from the other team, and I wasn't sure Lamar Odom was even alive anymore.

Then, the Denver Nuggets smacked LA clean in the mouth during a 120-101 loss in Game 4. They had to stomach watching J.R. Smith tap-dancing, mean-mugging, and generally being a stereotype as they went down in flames in Denver. Not only that, they let a guy who actually answers to "Birdman" shut them down.

Maybe that was enough to finally wake the Lakers up. Lord knows I was tired of seeing them play like they'd automatically be in the Finals just because it's been prophesied by the Kobe/LeBron commercials. I think for most people, escaping Houston like they did would be enough for a team to realize that it's not gonna be a cakewalk.

And after predicting after every loss that the next game would be the one where LA would get it together, this one might actually be the one where they do.

Sure, they did this against Houston in a Game 5 blowout, but I don't think anyone ever really believed that Houston would win that series. Houston was always three seconds away from Yao Ming hurting himself (which happened) or Ron Artest overtaking Vernon Maxwell as the "Craziest Man in Houston." This Rockets team wasn't exactly "Clutch City," and the Lakers knew it.

But the Nuggets are different, because they're every bit as talented as the Lakers are. They're big, athletic, physical, and they've made the Lakers work for every point. The Lakers, at no point, have ever been in control of this series, and it never seemed to bother them. They were just fine watching Kobe scowl and heave contested jumpers. They didn't mind that Lamar Odom was stealing money from the team like his name was Rashard Lewis. Not until J.R. Smith started raining threes and doing his big boy swagger right in Phil's face. Now, the Lakers are diving all over the floor and into the stands.

Hey, whatever it took, it worked and it happened at the right time. If LA had lost this game, Nike and Vitaminwater might as well have stopped showing their commercials, because they weren't coming back. They were squeaking out wins against Denver before. With the confidence of beating the Lakers at home in pivotal Game 5 behind them, there would have been no end to the amount of J.R. Smith that we all would have had to deal with.

Now, they just need to sustain it. Can Lamar Odom show up for two consecutive games or will Kobe have to put the team on his back again?

Kobe is right and here's why

Earlier this year, I wrote a column about the lack of loyalty in sports. To sum it all up, it doesn't exist. Even though we know this, people are still being critical of Kobe and his supposed lack of loyalty to the Lakers. I can't figure out why, because when it comes to millions of dollars, fame, and glory, and potential immortality, the average American would probably push their own mother off of a moving bus.

What's the problem? She'll be alright if she braces herself.

There are those out there who continue to bring up the Lakers' support of Kobe during his sexual assault trial, and their willingness to trade Shaq and let Phil Jackson go to retain Kobe. I'll get to the sexual assault trial in a second, but no one put a gun to their heads and made them trade Shaq or settle for what they got for him. If someone offers me the best center of this decade, and all they want back is Caron Butler, Lamar Odom, Brian Grant and a draft pick (that would become Andrew Bynum), I'd probably lose three fingers in the fax machine trying to get the contract sent before they sober back up.

Why should Kobe have to suffer because Mitch Kupchak isn't good at his job? I'm sure his dad told him to be a dentist. If that was the best deal he could see, when Eddie Jones and Udonis Haslem are sitting right there (not to mention drafting Andrew Bynum), having Kobe upset with him is the least of his problems. What about his uncontrollable drooling or his ongoing battle with the childproof cap?

And please stop bringing up Jerry Buss and his loyalty to Kobe during the sexual assault trial. I'd expect Buss to stand by Kobe, seeing as how Kobe didn't rape that girl. Okay, so he let him use the team plane to go back and forth to Colorado. But is that a real big sacrifice? Kobe's got eleventy katrillion dollars. I really don't think he would have had to bum plane fare off of someone to get back to L.A. on time.

Besides, that was three years ago. Is Kobe supposed to stay in Buss' pocket forever? Keep in mind, Kobe Bryant is an athlete. He is the best player in the NBA. He is in his prime and he wants to win right now. Sure, he's keeping the team profitable, but do you really think Kobe gives a crap about the Lakers' operating budget or profit margins? I'm not even so sure the ownership cares, because if they did, they wouldn't settle for Chris Mihm as their starting center.

I don't know about you, but if I had the chance to land Jason Kidd, one of the greatest point guards ever, and all I had to give up was Andrew Bynum, a guy who may or may not ever be anything, I'd wipe the blood off of my fax machine and jam my other hand wrist deep back in there to get that Jason Kidd deal finalized.

The only argument that holds up at all is that they pay Kobe a lot of money to go out there and play basketball. He does it, and he does it well. Yes, they stood beside him during his troubles, but it's not like he was just slacking off the entire time he's been there. He helped bring three championships to L.A. and has continued to fill the seats of the Staples Center. I'd say helping Jerry Buss continue to pinch loaves on his platinum toilet filled with champagne counts for something. Jerry Buss wasn't supporting Kobe through his troubled times because he thought Kobe's soul smelled like cinnamon and his aura spoke with the voices of angels. He was protecting his investment.

And that investment was allowed to be made with the agreement of certain conditions, one of which was that there would be an actual team built around him. People forget, Kobe didn't have to come back. The Lakers needed him more than he needed the Lakers. He could have gone to the Clippers, the Bulls, the Hawks, and at least two of those three were presented without laughter.

But were those conditions met? Let me answer my question with a couple of questions. Is Smush Parker the starting point guard? Is Kobe supposed to wait for Andrew Bynum to develop? I hope that doesn't sound like "moving in the right direction" to you. If it does, then you just might qualify to be an NBA General Manager.

Andrew Bynum. Are you serious? Danny Granger, Hakim Warrick, Luther Head, and David Lee were all still on the board at the time. You know who got David Lee? The Knicks, which means that Isiah Thomas is smarter than you, Mitch Kupchak. Watch out, Mitch, that isn't Kool-Aid in that antifreeze jug.

So let's not pretend that Kobe hasn't shown the organization patience, even though it seems like they're saying to themselves, "How many D-League players can we sneak onto this team before anyone notices?" Kobe's not getting any younger and I don't think he should have to wait for Bynum to learn basketball moves he should have been picking up the second someone noticed that he was the only 7th grader in his class that was able to pass for an adult. Personally, I think he'd look great in a Bulls uniform. Just something to think about...