Kobe has grown up, just like you and I!

Apologies for those looking for a post yesterday. Gotta adjust to things on the fly in life, ya know?

I want to give a shout out to the "Mougars" team of City Year Chicago for putting on a beautiful service day. Everything from the volunteers to the murals to the grilling was fantastic, big props!

One of my favorite things to do is talk sports with casual sports fans; that is, people who might not watch sports on a regular basis and follow a particular team or sport closely. It's funny thinking that in high school and college, I was surrounded by people who I talked sports with 24/7. Whether it was with Pros, on the radio at DePauw, with my fraternity brothers, the arguments and debates never stopped and they got pretty heated at times, even down right nasty. Debates became personal and the facts became moot. Those were the days.

Working at City Year Chicago the past ten months, I've been around only a couple people who I share the same passion for sports with. My team would tell you that I talk sports more with the 3rd-5th graders we work with in our after school program than with anyone on the team. Pros can attribute to that as when he came to my school just several weeks back, he got into a great conversation with one of my favorite kids on how the Chicago Bulls would improve this off season . Mind you, this kid is in fourth grade but he was dropping names and strategies left and right. Pros, we need to get Kristopher on the blog soon, ok?

I bring up this point of "casual fans" because of all the talk about Kobe Bryant, the leader and superstar of the Los Angeles Lakers. The amount of Kobe haters out there is mind blowing, especially with the recent "holiness" of LeBron James. People love to hate Kobe and there are plenty of things that people point to:

- The rape charges and how he's a horrible human being and an awful family man.
- His past relationship with Shaquille O'Neal and the falling out they had after the 2003-2004 season, along with Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who left the team only to come back about a year later.
- His scoring numbers during the Lakers rebuilding years, people pointing to Kobe as a ball hog and a selfish teammate.

The people who make these statements forget how much they have grown themselves in their own lives. People make mistakes, people do bad, regrettable things, what not. The funny thing when it comes to Kobe is that people take the things from his past and apply it to his life and basketball career right now. It's even harder when Kobe is being compared to Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest athlete of all time. However, people fail to think about how Michael grew as a player and a human being (if you want to even argue that second part...). Michael filed for divorce several years back with his wife Juanita and there were enough rumors on what exactly prompted that. Couple that with his horrible gambling habits that carry their own juicy stories (year off anyone?) and the fact he too was routinely seen yelling at teammates and coaches, how is Michael any different of a person than Kobe?

Yes, I am a Kobe Bryant fan and I'll tell you why: because this guy has grown up and is the best basketball player I've ever watched, period. I barely remember watching Michael as I wasn't even a huge basketball fan back then. This is not about LeBron versus Kobe or what LeBron will do later in his career. I'm asking people to look at what Kobe has done, is doing, and what he might accomplish in a month's time.

We as fans all too often want to point to an athlete and bring him down as a human being. I find sadness in this as in many ways, they are no different than you and I. Kobe pumps his own gas, he goes to the grocery store, and he cries. Coach Mike Krzyzewski of Duke University and Team USA basketball came to my school earlier this year to talk with students about the importance of reading. He talked about following your dream as well and then talked about Kobe. Let us remember that this past summer was the first time the grizzled veteran Kobe Bryant got to wear the red, white, and blue for Team USA in the Olympics (he was injured in 2004). Coach K said that when the players were issued the jerseys, all the other players such as LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Chris Paul, threw on their jerseys and flashed big smiles, high fiving each other. Kobe did not put his jersey on, instead staring at it and began crying in front of all the guys. It took LeBron and Dwyane Wade to come over and calm him down because he realized he finally got to do something he hadn't done and that he would represent his country in the Olympics.

People need to take a step back when making judgements on people, especially when it comes to athletes and celebrities. It's amazing how quick we are to put a label on people and how those labels stick on certain individuals. It's also about crafting your own argument and not jumping on what others have to say. Weren't we taught at a young age to question what is said and what is around us daily? When it comes to the media and sport, we need to do that. Yes, Kobe is on the verge of accomplishing something special and is about to reach the top of the mountain after being there and being thrown off, some to his own fault. He has battled his way back and has learned how to be a true, all around basketball player, especially after winning the MVP last season for the first time in his career. He always talks about the journey and working hard to attain what he wants, something that few in the NBA do better than him. Let us examine those attributes and his growth and let us think about that while we watch the NBA Finals. If you're gonna say he doesn't pass the ball to his teammates, watch an entire game first. If you're gonna say he is a bad person, try to examine something he might be doing well instead of focusing on the faults. Then let's talk.