Things I Don't Get...#2

Kobe's penchant for self destruction: One of the problems with having an extraordinary talent is that you tend to focus on that particular talent for so long, that you lose perspective, or even worse, never gain a perspective. Take Kobe Bryant for example. Here's a guy who is as talented on the court as could be, but because he's never developed any sense of perspective, he's become both self aware and self absorbed. And while I'm not psychologist, I imagine that his personality is now fully formed, and the Kobe you see in his twenties is going to be the Kobe you see in his eighties. But in that manner, he's not any different than his hero Michael Jordan, except that Michael Jordan had enough sense to mask his selfishness through surrogates and myth building. And as long as he didn't stray from the myth, no one bothered to look behind the curtain and see if there really was a wizard. For Kobe, he doesn't have that luxury anymore. The rape charge and the Lakers missing the playoffs, means that everyone knows that there's no wizard, and there never was. And as a Laker fanatic, that tarnishes the gold on the uniforms just a bit.