Realist: Realists have a firm grip on reality and can see things for what they are, not what they are told they are. Realists have their own views and do not fall victim to propaganda, misconception or titles. (Both definitions provided by urbandictionary.com)
Hater. Realist. Pessimist. Devil's Advocate. I probably fit the bill on all of those terms. Why? Because I believe, in my heart of hearts, that 90% of everything we read, hear, see, watch, and are told is bullshit. Gabe described me as an "all-purpose hater". By definition, that may very well be true. I'm just the type of guy who likes to go left when others go right. It's just my nature. You may say that makes me a hater. I may say I'm just a realist. It's a neverending debate.
In the definition of "hater" above, it says that the "hater" makes a point of exposing a flaw. So, in typical hater fashion, allow me to do so. I'm not going recycle my thoughts on the NBA Finals. I've said my piece. Gabe has said his. We agree to disagree on this one. However, in the coverage of these NBA Finals, I find a common thread: Kobe Bryant's legacy and his pursuit of Michael Jordan.
Now, if you've heard my thoughts on Jordan, you will DEFINITELY think I'm a hater. Personally, I find that the man feasted on weak competition and the media glossed over his fatal flaws (selfishness, huge ego, extreme gambling problem, etc.) because he a. was a consistent winner and b. a endorsement cash cow. You didn't want to have opposing thoughts on Michael Jordan because you would lose money. His face and persona sold magazines, sneakers, hot dogs, soft drinks, underwear....the whole nine. You didn't want to go up against that.
The same now holds true with Kobe Bryant......and that is where my issues lies. Seven years ago, the same media that now fawns over Kobe's thirst to top Jordan were ready to throw "The Black Mamba" to the wolves. In 2003, Kobe Bryant was in the same situation that Tiger Woods and Ben Roethlisberger are currently in. He was a superstar athlete taking a public relations ass-whooping because of a well-publicized tawdry sexual encounter with a woman who was not his wife. Kobe got the two-for-one special back then. Not only was Bryant being pummelled for being an adulterer, but he was being accused of being a rapist. Endorsements dropped Kobe with such speed, it would make C.J. Spiller's head spin. The media had a field day. Kobe's jersey sales plummeted. Sure, the case never went to trial because the accuser wouldn't testify and Kobe did admit to having an affair (claiming, however, that the sex was consensual) and Kobe stole a page out of the Tony Soprano handbook and wooed his wife with a overdramatic apology and a big, fat, gawdy ring (Although, Tony never cried. Why? Because Jersey Italians don't cry!). Still, much like most celebrity rape charges that never see the light of day in a courtroom, we don't know what exactly went on in that room. All we know is Kobe inevitably reached a settlement with the victim in her civil suit.
Then, a funny thing happened on the way to reporters asking questions: Kobe became a Jordan-esque winning machine. After a couple years of a PR nightmare that included Kobe demanding out of L.A. like a spoiled brat, Bryant ended up getting everything he wanted: some quality role players (Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, and later on, Ron Artest) and, most importantly, the media off of his back. After all, much like Jordan in the 90's, nobody wanted to risk irritating the game's biggest star by delving into controversy. So everyone agreed to just drop it. It's a thing of the past, right? Winning cures everything! Who cares that this man may have forced his way into a woman that wasn't his wife, then had his well-paid attorneys and PR people apply an asphyxiating hailstorm of pressure on the victim until she tapped out? Do I think Kobe raped Katelyn Faber? I don't know, and you know what, neither do you. However, it's easier to take the path of least resistance and get on the good side of the man who is dominating the NBA like his mentor did a decade or so ago.
Look, I don't hate Kobe. I'm just enough a realist to know that the same media that pucker up to his million dollar ass now were hurling daggers at him seven years ago. Now, it's all about Kobe's legacy. Seven years ago, it was about locking the guy up. I've chosen to not forget that, even if some have. What does this have to do with my lack of excitement over the Finals? Well, nothing. There is a small part of me that has a hard time rooting for someone who may have committed sexual assault not so long ago and the only thing keeping that part from amplifying is my utter dislike for Jordan (I grew up admiring Magic Johnson. Yes, the same Magic Johnson whose philandering gave him the HIV virus and ended his NBA career. Stars aren't perfect. I get it). You may say "But Dave, that was seven years ago, he wasn't convicted...blah blah blah." Tell that to O.J. Even before he got locked up for being the ignorant goon we always knew he was during his famous double murder trial, O.J. never seemed to get the benefit of the doubt. There were people who thought he did it and got away with murder (like myself) and people in denial. People who genuinely thought O.J. was innocent and were not only supporting him because of racial solidarity were few and far between. He never experienced the type of public relations 180 that Kobe got (and that's not to say that he should have. Frankly, the world's a better place with that asshole behind bars).
Similarly, there are two schools of thought regarding the Finals. There are guys like Gabe, who loves the sport of basketball and sees this Finals matchup as a furthering of the sport's greatest rivalry as well as yet another chance to see one of the three greatest players of all-time "do work" in hopes of another championship ring. In the eyes of BoomRoastedSports' "all-purpose hater", it's the continuation of the pursuit by a man, once considered the most hated man in the sport, of surpassing the legacy of his legendary mentor, who proved to be the cocky, arrogant, self-centered jerk that I always thought he was during his Hall of Fame speech.
That may make me a hater, but I think I'm just being a realist.
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