I’ll give Kobe Bryant credit for one thing: the man treads heavily when responding to critics.
When the U.S. Men’s National Team coach Jurgen KIinsmann cited Bryant’s two-year, $48.5 million extension as he was coming off an Achilles’ injury as an example of the American culture of placating fading stars, Bryant was vintage Black Mamba.
Here's Kobe talking to the Worldwide Leader:
"I thought it was pretty funny," Bryant said in Brazil, where he's taking in three World Cup matches. "I thought it was pretty comical, actually. I see his perspective. But the one perspective that he's missing from an ownership point of view is that you want to be part of an ownership group that is rewarding its players for what they've done, while balancing the team going forward. If you're another player in the future and you're looking at the Lakers organization, you want to be a part of an organization that takes care of its players while at the same time, planning for the future."
Kobe, ever the master of passive-aggressive shade, couldn’t help but throwing an elbow at Klinsmann’s ability of evaluating personnel.
"Jurgen is a coach, a manager," he said. "He's not a GM or owner of the franchise. When you look at it from that perspective, it changes a little bit. But you probably could have used another player as an example."
Kobe Bryant never saw a shot he didn’t like.
Bryant makes a salient point: Athletes want to know they’re going to be taken care of by the team they decide to sign with. However, he doesn't acknowledge that taking less money to allow your team to surround you with other good players is also worthwhile. All Bryant had to do to learn that lesson was to flip on a TV Sunday night.
Millions of kids all over the world have picked up a basketball specifically because they grew up watching Kobe Bryant. Those very same kids flooded talk radio and sports blogs to crush the Lakers, who likely doomed themselves to the 2015 draft lottery thanks to gifting Bryant that albatross of an extension while his ankle looked like this.
You can't blame Klinnsmann for being the least bit skeptical.
Klinsmann's criticism should have been directed at the Lakers and not at Bryant. Bryant was merely paid what the Lakers were willing to pay him.
The team lost any and all negotiating leverage when they re-signed their 35-year-old fading star to a $50 million extension with the dude's poster still hanging in their team's office.
