Kobe Bryant became my favorite basketball player back in 1996. At that point in his career, he was trying to pull off every dribble move God Shammgod had taught him, damn near every play - and he tossed up more ridiculous shots than Del Harris could stomach...
...which is why he sat. I've seen a few show-boating, chuck-a-holics in my day, but even back then, I saw something in Kobe that I had never seen before. It was akin to psychosis, and he never showed any sort of remorse for what he did. I've never seen a guy who could come down the court five plays in a row, miss, and think that the sixth one HAD to go down because the other five were so close(i.e. They weren't complete airballs). Most basketball players will start to pull back after two or three missed shots. Not Bean, though. It's as if he believes he can take on the cold streak, and subdue it by shooting the ball at the basket. Difficulty of shots taken be damn.
Hell, in the earlier part of his career, commentators had broken Kobe up into two different players: Good Kobe and Bad Kobe. Bad Kobe would go 1 on 4 or 5, because it was just not possible that those guys could stop him from getting his buckets.
The only thing that has changed is he isn't dribbling as much, and he isn't trying to dunk every play.
Fast-forward to last night:
Kobe Bryant came out of opening tip on some next shit. I don't think dude looked to pass for the first five minutes of the game even though he already had six shot attempts in four minutes of action.
At first they were falling, but I was not duped. I soon started to get a familiar feeling in my gut that basically predicted Kobe would keep firing long after he cooled off, BECAUSE he wet the first four shots.
Boy was I right.
For all of his study of film, and his rare dedication to preparation - I am thoroughly convinced that Kobe Bryant has some sort of mental deficiency that prevents him from understanding when enough is enough(I already know where this last sentence is taking some of you...). At times, he does get it. I've seen Kobe realize that four consecutive fall-away jumpers, from 15+ feet away, over multiple defenders was not the most efficient way to score the ball. As a matter of fact, he shot 49% at the beginning of the 2009-2010 season, and it was clear that he had learned to control his 'demon'.
Unfortunately, old old habits die hard, and I saw this dude reduce a 49% fg percentage to 45%, mainly because if he were to keep the game simple, he'd probably feel compelled to retire.
I'm going to roll with Kobe 'til he hangs it up, but I have no doubt in my mind about one thing: That motherfucker is crazy.
...which is why he sat. I've seen a few show-boating, chuck-a-holics in my day, but even back then, I saw something in Kobe that I had never seen before. It was akin to psychosis, and he never showed any sort of remorse for what he did. I've never seen a guy who could come down the court five plays in a row, miss, and think that the sixth one HAD to go down because the other five were so close(i.e. They weren't complete airballs). Most basketball players will start to pull back after two or three missed shots. Not Bean, though. It's as if he believes he can take on the cold streak, and subdue it by shooting the ball at the basket. Difficulty of shots taken be damn.
Hell, in the earlier part of his career, commentators had broken Kobe up into two different players: Good Kobe and Bad Kobe. Bad Kobe would go 1 on 4 or 5, because it was just not possible that those guys could stop him from getting his buckets.
The only thing that has changed is he isn't dribbling as much, and he isn't trying to dunk every play.
Fast-forward to last night:
Kobe Bryant came out of opening tip on some next shit. I don't think dude looked to pass for the first five minutes of the game even though he already had six shot attempts in four minutes of action.
At first they were falling, but I was not duped. I soon started to get a familiar feeling in my gut that basically predicted Kobe would keep firing long after he cooled off, BECAUSE he wet the first four shots.
Boy was I right.
For all of his study of film, and his rare dedication to preparation - I am thoroughly convinced that Kobe Bryant has some sort of mental deficiency that prevents him from understanding when enough is enough(I already know where this last sentence is taking some of you...). At times, he does get it. I've seen Kobe realize that four consecutive fall-away jumpers, from 15+ feet away, over multiple defenders was not the most efficient way to score the ball. As a matter of fact, he shot 49% at the beginning of the 2009-2010 season, and it was clear that he had learned to control his 'demon'.
Unfortunately, old old habits die hard, and I saw this dude reduce a 49% fg percentage to 45%, mainly because if he were to keep the game simple, he'd probably feel compelled to retire.
I'm going to roll with Kobe 'til he hangs it up, but I have no doubt in my mind about one thing: That motherfucker is crazy.
