I feel like recently all I’ve talked about in my columns are how upset I am with the world of sports and the unusual happenings of the athletic world around us. Which is a shame, because so many good and interesting things are happening right now (I’m so happy Billy Donovan is about to leave Florida I could cry) and it’s sad of me to dwell on the bad. So I apologize.
Unfortunately, I’m going to have to do it again.
I’m sick of Kobe Bryant. I’m hanging up my No. 8 and No. 24 jerseys for good; trade him for all I care. Kobe’s latest teenage pubescent mood swings are sending me through the roof.
First Kobe said Jerry West needs to come back, then that he himself might have to move away from Los Angeles, then that he wanted to stay, then he demanded to be traded, then he said never mind, he should stay; Kobe was more fickle than an adolescent girl whose boyfriend just broke up with her. But even before all the drama over this, we had to put up with the Colorado rape trial and the Kobe-Shaq drama. Kobe has made the Staples Center into a “Days of Our Lives” set.
And for all you worriers out there, no, he isn’t going anywhere. He means too much to this L.A. franchise and even the city itself. Kobe is too much of a self-centered, egotistical pea to not want to live in the narcissistic Los Angeles pod. But that doesn’t mean I can’t complain about him.
I understand that the Lakers as a team right now are in turmoil. They have failed miserably in almost every endeavor since Shaq left and Mitch Kupchak is continually proving his incompetency in the front office. The Caron Butler trade was unfathomable and passing up Jason Kidd this year was unbelievable. Kobe has a lot to be upset about, but this isn’t about that. This is about the way he’s handled the situation ““ I think he’s taken this to a whole other level.
I can understand the frustration, really, I can. But it’s completely immature to go around and blow up every relationship with the team’s front office to prove a point that most of us already know. He completely blew the front door off this situation. His actions remind me of something he would do when he was 19 starting his NBA career, not 29, which is supposedly his age now.
Here’s what really grinds my gears: Kobe went on air saying how much he loved the Lakers growing up, how he’s a die-hard Lakers fan before he even became a player. Then the next morning comes around and he asks for a trade.
No, sorry, not buying it. You can’t say you grew up a die-hard fan, then request a trade the next second; that’s hypocrisy at its very finest.
I tell you what, since I appreciate that three-peat a few years ago, I’ll give Kobe one more year. One more year to make that 50 points a game mean something. Because after that, honestly, I think the Lakers might actually be better off trading him. Maybe once they get a better GM (which I realize, at this point is almost a necessity), fix things up in the office, and then trade him, they could pick up multiple players with potential who can actually form a five-person starting lineup, and move on to a new Laker era. The drama would be gone overnight and we could move on.
Knights of Columbus, Kobe needs to stop acting like he’s 5 and being a spoiled child because he can’t win a title every year. Yes, the team has made bad calls, but no matter what, it’s going to take some time to build a championship-caliber team. If he’s upset and wants something to change, he should talk to the front office directly and try to make the changes happen firsthand. Don’t go on some radio show and tell us all how pissed you are.
Grow up.
E-mail Wenzel at awenzel@media.ucla.edu because yes, he did refer to Kobe Bryant as a narcissistic pea and Los Angeles as a pod.