Tag Archives: kobe bryant

Athletes take to social media over Ferguson Verdict

Leave a reply

By Kaleb Page

Voicing our thoughts is something all of us do when it comes to something big happening in our country. No different is this period in time when the Ferguson case coming to a close brought on many reactions from not only people in the United States, but around the world as well. One thing I won’t get into specifics on is the case or the verdict itself, but one thing I will say is that this case and the end result will be around for a long time.

After the verdict was read, not only were everyday people like you and I taking to social media to look at the reactions, discussions and to voice opinions; athletes were doing it too.

Yahoo Sports and Sports Illustrated have screen shots of some athletes tweets in reaction to the verdict and the subsequent actions in the community of Ferguson. Now I know it is good that sports outlets cover the different aspects of news that involve athletes, and this is something to cover since there are prominent athletes speaking on a big social issue at the time in this country. However, I do find a problem in doing this and highlighting certain types of things said.

When a big name athlete with a lot of influence like Kobe Bryant says, “The system enables young black men to be killed behind the mask of law” or Serena Williams says, “Wow. Just wow. Shameful. What will it take???.” What type of role does that play in feeding on to the madness we have seen on social media and in the Ferguson community?

These athletes know they hold a lot of social influence whether it is fair or not. They definitely can and do spark thoughts for people by what they say. That is why for me personally I wish athletes would just stay away from subjects like these when it is still in the heat of the moment. Don’t get into the specifics, don’t try to incite more hostile reaction, if anything just do a simple neutral message. Tweets like the ones above however, just add to the quick actions by people who don’t give time to really think on it.

I know that is human to want to speak your mind on something out there, but like I said I don’t think that it is an athletes place to jump in on this issue especially on social media. I hope that these tweets and other social media outlet outpourings by athletes similar to Kobe’s and Serena’s don’t get publicized more than they already have. Because if there is one thing sport shouldn’t be, it shouldn’t be a dividing factor on top of the many factors dividing us already.

Sport should be something that brings us all together no matter the race. I hope that athletes realize that before they post on this issue.

The video above is from ESPN First Take, and it looks at how athletes speak on social media about major issues. This video is primarily about when Ferguson just began and athlete reaction at that time. I recommend watching it all as it speaks to what I wrote above as far as reaction to the conclusion of this case (or start at 5:12 on the video).

Go back

Your message has been sent

The Poor Decisions of the Los Angeles Lakers

Leave a reply

By Kia Tyus

Kelly Dwyer wrote a compelling article about the Los Angeles Lakers recent poor decisions in recent years; most notably their signing of Kobe Bryant to a two-year $48.5 million.

Dwyer brought on the point that just about everyone thought that the Lakers made a ridiculously poor decision. Everyone except the Buss family and Bryant has a firm understanding that Bryant is by no means able to play at the level of a $48.5 million contract.

Dwyer also points out that the Lakers organization is very careless with their money because they know that they have the money to spend.

On of the best comparisons that was made in the article was how Tim Duncan and Dirk Nowitzki took pay cuts to make sure that there respective organizations had money to spend on free agency without going over the luxury tax. Dwyer also noted that Duncan and Nowitzki respective teams got a good bargain with their recent contract extinctions.

The Lakers are clearly in a different market that most National Basketball Association teams. I like how Dwyer stated facts like the San Antonio Spurs aren’t getting $2 billion dollar TV deals. And that even with Bryant’s recent contract the Lakers still have plenty of cap space to sign free agents.

Which brings Dwyer’s next point in the recent Laker’s poor spending habits. The Lakers should have never hired Mike Brown. The Lakers were looking at whom Brown was coaching instead of his actual coaching ability. Second, the Lakers spent a large sum of money when they acquired Dwight Howard and Steve Nash. This was a huge waist of money because Howard lasted a year and played terribly and Nash has yet to have a healthy season with the Lakers.

Dwyer also helped his claim when he stated that they shouldn’t have hired Mike D’Antoni because they didn’t have the offensive weapons to run a D’Antoni offense and Byrant under his new contract has yet to play a full season and is in is 19th NBA season coming off of two major injuries on both legs.

Dwyer wrote a great article about the Lakers poor choices over the last few years. He stated multiple facts and gave great examples about how their poor choices have done nothing but harm the team. In fact, the Lakers have started the 2014-15 season 1-7.

Go back

Your message has been sent

“You can’t worry about failure” – Bryant Makes All-time NBA Mark for Missed Field Goals

Leave a reply

By Ellen Chlumecky

On Tuesday in Memphis, Kobe Bryant made history by setting the NBA record for missed field goals. The Los Angeles Lakers played the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday and Bryant set the mark with 6:22 left in the fourth quarter of a 107-102 loss. He missed a 14-foot fade away jumper from the left side. This miss gave him his 13, 418 career missed field goal. He made history by becoming the player with the most missed field goals by beating Boston Celtics John Havlicek by one shot. Also, in this same game, Bryant scored a game high of 28 points on 10-of-26 shooting.

After the game, Bryant was asked if he knew about the record. Kobe Bryant let it roll off his shoulders and commented on how he did not follow records or statistics like that. When asked how he managed to make the mark, he laughed and said, “Well, I’m a shooting guard that’s played 19 years – ‘shooting’ guard, 19th year.” Bryant said, “I don’t care about it, to be honest with you. It is what it is. I remember when I was a kid and I watched Michael shoot 49 times in an NBA Finals game. Can you imagine if I did that and lost? Puts thing in perspective.”

Kobe Bryant did not seem to be concerned about the major milestone in his career. He is among the ranks of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Allen Iverson, Elvin Hayes, Karl Malone, and other greats of the NBA. All of these players worked their butts off every game to become greats.

ESPN, The New York Daily News, and NBC Sports all seemed to press on Bryant, asking him if he knew about the record and what he thought and if it bothered him. Even after all these people kept pushing to get some sort of anger or regret from him, Kobe Bryant chose to rise above it. He said, “You’ve got to step up and play, man. You can’t worry about criticism. You can’t worry about failure. You really can’t worry about that stuff.”

“You can’t worry about failure.” While I am not the biggest fan of Kobe Bryant, I have utter respect for him for understanding that this landmark in NBA history isn’t a failure. It is just a moment showing that Kobe Bryant has been working his butt off every game this season and every game of previous seasons as well. While most reporters are looking for a reason to tear him down, Bryant consistently tries to improve himself by working harder every day in every game.

Go back

Your message has been sent