It wasn’t so much that he expected greatness of himself, but that he seemed to think it was destined,
SLAM magazine wrote in 2004. How he just knew it was coming.
Mostly, though, it was how he went about it all, and how it never quite looked… authentic. Like he was always trying. Trying to be something other than who–or what–he was.
Ten years have passed since that magazine article, but the assessment is still accurate.
Kobe Bryant has always been a bit savvier than his contemporaries, at least from a distance. He always appeared to be more aware of history (and not just sports history) than other interviewed athletes. More capable of forming coherent thoughts that revealed a sense of perspective… more even than some of us belonging to the work week crowd, sometimes.
Kobe was more worldly, more traveled. There were times that Kobe’s savoir faire worked against him.
Athletes are no different than others with privileged status. If enough people tell you that you are special and worthy of idol worship, you will begin to believe it. All of us are guilty of pride to some degree.
Even those who still criticize him for those Colorado events must admit that they work with, are family members with, or have themselves been involved with sensational incidents.
Related: Kobe’s jawbone
Who would win the one on one matchup between “in his prime” Kobe and Michael Jordan, or Kobe and LeBron? Fun to talk about, but ultimately irrelevant.
Better questions: What if snoops with cameras followed us around all of the time? What kinds of things would the entertainment shows dig out of our trash and our past? The Bible:Â “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.”
SLAM: So who is Kobe Bryant? Essentially, he’s a foreigner, an immigrant not only to this country, but to the culture that has come to define the game. The fact that he has tried so hard to embrace that culture just makes it that much more obvious that he wasn’t born to it.
That week-long run of throwbacks during the ’02 Finals?… It came off as forced, and a lot of us saw it as such. Just like all those years when he seemed to be channeling Jordan, in voice and manner and game.
Fact is, he’s been saying for years he wants to be the greatest of all time, and as of right now [2004], his goals, all of them, are still attainable.
Well, all except for one. He still wants to look like he’s not trying. Like he belongs. He wants the acceptance, the embrace. He tried to tell us it didn’t matter, but we’re pretty sure it does. And at this point, even for Kobe Bryant, that might be too much to ask.
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