Every year, I look forward to the month of February, not only because it brings with it the “unofficial” halfway mark of the NBA season, but because it marks another year that I get to enjoy the All-Star festivities. Of course, being here in Dallas, last year was the best so far, but the 2011 All-Star weekend certainly didn’t disappoint, with one exception: How in the world did Kobe Bryant receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame?
Seriously, Kobe “I swear it was consensual” Bryant is the first professional athlete to get a star on the Walk of Fame? Once again, bad behavior is rewarded. What’s wrong with you, California?
Granted, Kobe is an unbelievable basketball player, one of the best to ever set foot on the court. But there are hundreds of other athletes who would have actually been deserving of such an honor. Why not an actor turned athlete, such as football star Fred Dryer (who played the title role on Hunter) or Merlin Olson (who starred in Little House on the Prairie and Father Murphy) or former wrestler Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who has had a fairly lucrative film career?
Heck, even keeping it in the pro basketball/Los Angeles Lakers realm, why not Magic Johnson, who had his own talk show, or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was a legendary player, has been in multiple movies, and been involved with countless charities? Why, Los Angeles, did you choose to honor Kobe Bryant, an alleged rapist and infamously arrogant a-hole?
Because in your crazy mixed up world, character doesn’t matter anymore. All that matters is winning.
Call me old-fashioned (so what if I am?) or call me a loser, but that, my friends, is why I can never be a Lakers fan. Because in my world, in the real world, character means something. My beloved Mavericks may not be the reigning world champs, but they have something that the Lakers, particularly Kobe, will never have: integrity and dignity, both of which are priceless. Take dat wit chuuuuu!
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