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Just so I understand: Just months after requesting a trade and attacking the Los Angeles Lakers organization as incompetent and untrustworthy, Ko-Me Bryant is now a good guy.
Got it.
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| Does Kobe's softer media image explain the once-again favored perception? (Getty Images) |
Got it.
Wait. No. I'm confused.
One is a selfish jackal who asked for a trade. The other is a selfish jackal who asked for a trade. Yet the media portrays Bryant like he's a rejuvenated heartthrob, Mr. Terrific; and Johnson remains someone painted by the press as nothing short of Osama bin Ocho Cinco.
Bryant is winning now so all is forgiven. Johnson's Cincinnati Bengals are fairly awful so he's not.
Got it. Got it? No. Yes. I dunno.
Someone pass a copy of the Bad Guy Playbook. Let's check the bylaws. The rules are right there, under the douchebaggery clause, next to the self-centered athlete sub-section, paragraph two, directly following the Pete Rose mandate, next to the picture of Terrell Owens: "Any athlete who throws his team under the bus shall be seen as a selfish jerkface."
Each time I see Ko-Me discussed in the media now there are violins and kisses. Tongue, even. Bryant? A bad guy? Naawwww ... no way. He's an angel. In fact, angels dream of one day being him.
Basketball fans seem to be suffering from the same Bryant amnesia as the media. Of course senile Los Angeles Lakers fans gulp the Bryant Kool-Aid by the gallon, but it seems even normally savvy NBA fans are puckering up to bequeath a kiss on the Bryant buttocks just a short time after more than a few fans were calling him every four-letter word in the book.
Someone please explain to me the difference between Johnson and Bryant? An MVP award? Is that all it takes for people to forget that Bryant acted like a petulant child in demanding a trade and denigrating his team?
You say the difference is Johnson's a showboat and Bryant isn't. Well I see you one showboat and raise you a rape charge.
