Watching this current NBA season I have gained a new level of respect for Kobe Bean Bryant. Now I have always known he was a great player destined for the hall of fame but this season gave me a new perspective on just how mentally strong he is. In the words of my comrade PJ “Kobe has the body of a 50 year old!” What’s amazing to me is the way he deals with his injuries and stays focused on the big picture.

After the last lost to the Miami Heatles instead of just relaxing knowing he is a 5 time champion, he instead went to work on his shot after the game. Then after watching him get a sprained ankle I thought he would be out a least a week, considering Boozer just missed 5 games with the same injury, but he didn’t miss a game.

This in my opinion is what separates him from every other player in the league. Now I know all of the “King James” fans probably won’t read this entire post, but if you do I got love for you, and if you don’t Marshall Faulk You and go Cheddar Bob yourself!

The funny thing is, the more I recognize Kobe’s mental toughness he seems to get more hate. In the words of the legendary Philly rap crew Major Figgas “What you hatin’ for?” People in Philly say they hate him because “he disrespected the Sixers in their fans in the finals!” So What! Get over it! Then you have the Lebron fans who refuse to give him credit because in their words “Lebron makes his team better!” And Kobe doesn’t? Lmao!!!! Or they hit you with the “Kobe always had help and Lebron didn’t!” First off that’s just dumb, and I need people to start forming their own opinion and stop repeating nonsense they hear! Michael Jordan had a hall of fame running mate, Bill Russell had more than one hall of famer on his championship teams, when Wilt won titles he had hall of fame help, Dr J. had hall of fame help, Isiah had hall of fame help, and by this time you get the point and if not immediately go to the highest floor possible of wherever you are and jump right now! Another funny one is “He is arrogant!” Lmao! Name me one great player that isn’t arrogant. The hate gets so bad that after Kobe scored 42 pts in a triple overtime game I received an email with this pic attached.

I’m not just talking to Lebron fans. I have had this debate with Iverson fans, Vince Carter fans, T-Slack fans, D. Wade fans, and now Lebron fans. That brings up another point. All of the guys I mentioned at one point in time were “supposed” to be the best player in the league but there has been one constant during all this time and that has been Kobe.

There is a difference between being a great player and being a winner. Then there is a difference between being a winner and being champion. I consider myself a student of the game and when I look at the history of the game there were only a handful of players that had the mental toughness that made them a champion. Guys like Jordan, Russell, Bird, Magic, and Kobe. As great as Wilt was he didn’t care enough about the game. He had his mind on breaking the BYU honor code as many times as humanly possible. Wilt was a winner but Russell was a champion.

Now I know all the Kobe haters, if they are still reading at this point, are sick or saying hateful things about him and that’s expected. I too have had players I didn’t like. Most people think Jordan was the GOAT but I don’t and I also didn’t like his a$$ when he played. In fact I don’t like him to the point that I call him Thed. Thed is an acronym that stands for “The Hooped Earring Dude”. I didn’t like Thed to the point that I never owned a pair of Jordans. (I had to make an exception for the Jordan III’s and XI’s because those were as hot as fishgrease cooked on August 18th!) The difference is my hate for Jordan didn’t cloud my judgment when it came to his game. Mike was a monster and he was one of the greatest players to ever do it! He was still a cornball that wore a wack a$$ hoop earing.

My point is, because you don’t like Kobe for something that has nothing to do with basketball don’t judge his game based on that. I can understand not liking him but I hear Kobe detractors use that as the reasons why he isn’t the best playing or even a great player. Learn to separate your hate for the man from your judgment of him as a player. You have a chance to watch one of the greatest to ever do it, so appreciate it. Now for all the Kobe haters that made it this far; You may now start hating!!!

Jimmy Williams

Tags: Basketball, Bill Russell, Dr. J, Hoops, Kobe Bryant, Larry Bird, Los Angeles Lakers, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, NBA, The War Room, War Room Sports, Wilt Chamberlain

This entry was posted on Friday, March 25th, 2011 at 1:01 pm and is filed under General, NBA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.