Sunday, August 24, 2008

A Restored Kobe Leads The "Redeem" Team To Victory



The indomitable one, Kobe "Bean" Bryant, helped the United States Basketball Team to Olympic Gold today, scoring 20 points in a 118-107 victory over Spain. Dwyane Wade led the team in scoring with 27 points.

I've been wanting to write about Kobe's petulance and selfishness for months, but Kobe's whole persona seemed to go through a major transformation during the 2 week Olympic period. Gone was the selfish Kobe who openly criticized teammates and team officials. In Beijing, Kobe basked in the adulation that he received, and was actually a very good teammate. If there was any doubt whether Kobe could overcome the Colorado debacle, and regain his standing as a role model throughout the world, the 2008 Olympics proved that Kobe can persevere and overcome many obstacles.

It would be very easy to view the the transformation of Kobe "Bean" Bryant in very casual terms considering that he's a multi millionaire with basketball talent that only a handful of people are blessed with in abundance. However, when I compare Kobe's Colorado situation with how Michael Vick's dogfighting fiasco turned out, Kobe's handled everything in a forthright way despite his forays into selfishness, and his reputation has recovered. I hope Vick will use Kobe's recovery as an example of career and life transformation.

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