^^
That is great, as is this one from Dan LeBatard of the Miami Herald:
Didn't take long to see Bryant for his selfishness
By DAN LEBATARD
dlebatard@herald.com
Well, that didn't take long.
About 20 NBA games for clarity.
Turns out,
Shaquille O'Neal is the truth, and Kobe Bryant is a lie.
It isn't merely that Bryant betrayed his wife and his corporate-polished image. Isn't merely that Bryant ran off three professionals -- O'Neal, Phil Jackson and now Karl Malone -- who somehow got along with just about everybody else throughout long careers. Isn't merely that Bryant leads the league in ego and myopia.
We can abide all those things in sports -- can abide just about anything, actually -- as long as you prove yourself a winner.
But it has been a long time since we've seen a sports figure so overtly destroy a champion to satiate his interests. Not since the Jimmy-Johnson-Jerry-Jones breakup has ego so clearly undermined championship potential in major American sports. And now you know why Bryant drove Jackson to consult a therapist specializing in narcissism.
HE'S NOT THAT GOOD
Turns out, Bryant's entire game was propped up by O'Neal's. Bryant, while still an All-Star, isn't nearly as good as he thinks he is.
He's closer to Allen Iverson than Michael Jordan. But Bryant pushed O'Neal aside so he could have the canvas to himself, and this is what we've seen since:
Bryant leads the league in turnovers. His shooting percentage, once Jordanesque, is now below 40 percent, which is dreadful. And his team has the same record as the Clippers.
Never mind Bryant's 26.9 scoring average. There are dozens of guys who could do that if given the 32 shots Ko-me took Saturday night. You'd be stunned how many Jerry Stackhouses and Al Harringtons could drop 27 a night if allowed to shoot below 40 percent with the carte blanche Bryant has after whacking Laker teammates and coaches Sopranos-style.
Shaq made Penny Hardaway great. Did it for Bryant, too. And now he's doing it for Dwyane Wade. The easiest job in this sport is being O'Neal's teammate. That's why Wade, Udonis Haslem, Damon Jones and even a resurrected Christian Laettner are doing unprecedented things.
And it's why Tracy McGrady grew bored with scoring titles and demanded a trade to get closer to Yao Ming. Giants help little guys, as Steve Smith can attest after his three-point percentage skyrocketed from 34 percent to 47 percent one season. It wasn't because he remembered how to shoot after 11 seasons. It was because he had joined Tim Duncan.
BRYANT TOO SELFISH
Bryant committed the cardinal sin, being so selfish that you short-circuit everything around you. Most athletes are selfish. The ''good guys'' are just a lot better at hiding it. Joe Montana and Dan Marino and Michael Jordan all wanted the ball, the team and the stats. They just never said so out loud.
The ''bad guys,'' like allegedly selfish Terrell Owens, can't keep their mouths shut about it. But now, as you look at the football standings, and see how Owens' former QB, Jeff Garcia, got Butch Davis unemployed, and see how high Philadelphia has climbed, you see that Owens wasn't as selfish or egomaniacal or greedy as he was honest and real and right.
Bryant is the worst kind of sports fraud. Selfish and myopic and ego-saturated while pretending to be something else. And wrong in just about every way we do the measurements.
Dan Le Batard hosts a show on 790 ESPN Radio from 4-7 p.m. weekdays.
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