2019-2020 NBA Season Thread Basketball • Page 506

Oh man watching Jerry West right now. Gutted

 

The only good thing Jason Kidd ever did for Giannis

 

Needed this laugh

 

Ah shit I started that cmoney rant and then bounced and wasn't even able to witness it live

 

No HOF speech and no statue unveiling sucksssss.

 

unreal - sports are so cool

 

Damn. Dame is on another planet rn.

 

Heh. This is just a cool thing.

 

every time I think I'm doing okay something new pops up in the TL to wreck me

 

So many tears today. This is just awful.

 

Dame has scored 61, 47 and 50 in his last three

27 threes made over that span

54/57/95 shooting splits




weeeeeeewwwwwww lad

 

I was a HUGE Kobe fan. I owned 3 jerseys.

Then he raped a woman. And it was no longer the same.

I feel absolutely terrible for his daughter and the rest of the family. It seems like he learned from his (gigantic) mistake though and made a positive impact after that.

 

I've been spending all day grappling with the two different Kobes that exist in my mind: The larger than life superstar who was universally adored by his peers, a dedicated father, the loudest cheerleader for women's basketball, the guy that any young player could reach out to for advice, the ultimate champion, LA's most beloved citizen, the player whose name is synonymous with the jump shot.

And the other Kobe, who is the same Kobe but feels different. Colorado. It's hard. Really hard. Kobe would be unimpeachable otherwise, but I can't forget it. Even though all the other stories about him describe a good person, an inspirational person, a role model if there ever was one, there's still that one thing that sticks in there. It feels really hard to enjoy anything at all with the spector of mortal human error threatening to taint positive memories. But, I guess that's how it has to be.

How do you balance your opinion of a person who changed millions of people's lives for the better with the knowledge that they gravely harmed one person? When DeMar DeRozan says he wouldn't have made it out of Compton to the NBA without Kobe, how do you appreciate that level of influence while knowing that his influence also brought a hotel maid to her lowest?

Sorry I'm rambling here. It's been a weird day. I've had a lot of time to think and I just need a spot to throw the mush of my brain. I never expected that this would affect me so much but I've been mainlining player interviews and looking at pictures of Gianna and Kobe and I'm kinda fucked up.

 

It's been a tough day for everyone and I'm sure it's been extremely tough for a lot of people in here (who I know have great intentions and always speak out and up when people in power abuse that and do horrible things) to navigate those feelings.

For me it's three things.

It's the human part of me that know's what he did. It's that part of me that has condemned some of my favorite musicians for things of that nature (I know of details about the Kobe case. I don't know the entirety of the story but I know what he did). It's that part of me that ignored that as a kid because I didn't know any better but now that I'm older and I understand more, it disgusts me. It disgusts me that any woman has ever gone through that and disgusts me that a man felt it was okay to make someone feel that way. And we see it every day. I think we should absolutely be able to talk about that and try to navigate how we feel about it. And I don't think it should be ignored. Ever.


Then there's the basketball fan in me. Basketball has been my only outlet since I was 8 years old. Shooting a rubber ball into a hoop I had on my bedroom door. Locking myself in my room and drowning out everything around me. When I was a teenager, there was nobody more polarizing than Kobe. There was nobody better than Kobe. Nearly every kid wanted to be Kobe. You wanted to hit that turn around, you wanted to pretend the shot clock was running down.

And now today, at almost 28 years old, there's the side of me where I have to look at things being a dad. This part tore me up the most today. I immediately drove to my son's grandmas house to give him a hug. Just a hug. Because I could not imagine or bare that form of loss. And I hurt so badly for his wife and his daughters. I hurt so badly to know what was possibly running through his head, if he even knew, what was about to happen to him and his loved ones on that helicopter. He was very clearly an outstanding father and I'd like to think and hope that he was a much better person now (and I believe he was) but that doesn't erase what he did and to a lot of people, it never will.

My thoughts are absolutely with Bryant's family and loved ones. But my thoughts are also with the woman who now has to see the world mourn her abuser and forget that he caused any pain.


I never ramble on here. Sorry in advance

 

no, thank you for this. My girlfriend (a survivor) and I have had a hard time with all of this but I want to respect his memory and the people he left behind for now

 

This fucked me up good.

 

You can do all the research in the world on Katelyn Faber and Kobe. You won't be satisfied. So much money, legacy, and future on the line. There were people from every direction, from both sides doing very shady things. In the end I don't blame her for not going to trial and settling. It isn't an admission of innocence nor of guilt for Kobe. For me it sums up this whole country. Right and wrong have little to do with the outcome when the media and wealth are involved. Nike, McDonalds etc; some of the most powerful entities in the world had something to lose.

Kobe sports? Legend
Kobe human? Very
Kobe rapist? Maybe.
Maybe a rapist? That doesn't sit well because most of us can agree it isn't too hard to navigate life and avoid being seen as maybe a rapist.

 

Probably won't feel real to me until the Lakers/Clippers game Tuesday