Uncomfortable question returns to haunt Kobe Bryant

[NJNJ]

http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2010-05/53771976.jpg

 

He hated the question, his jaw tightening, his eyes flaring.

 

"C'mon," Kobe Bryant said.

 

He hated the question, it touching on the deepest, darkest perceptions about his ethics and effort.

 

"Seriously," Bryant said.

 

He hated the question. But, two days before revisiting the setting of the alleged crime, he couldn't wait to answer it.

 

In the spring of 2006, did you tank the second half of Game 7 of the first-round series against the Phoenix Suns?

 

"People who say that are stupid," Bryant said. "That's just stupid."

 

It has been the most renowned on-court controversy of his career. For four years it has trailed him and nagged him like a scrap of toilet paper dancing under his high-tops.

 

So perhaps it should be no surprise that, in a rare interview about the painful subject Saturday, Bryant attacked it like it was Kevin Durant and plowed over it like it was Wesley Matthews.

 

"It's outlandish, the amount of irresponsibility people have, throwing out statements like that," he said.

 

The question is news again because on Monday, the Lakers begin a Western Conference finals series against the Suns. The issue is topical again because last week, folks accused LeBron James of sabotaging the Cleveland Cavaliers in a halfhearted effort in Game 5 of their losing series against the Boston Celtics.

 

Many thought Bryant did the same thing four years ago in the eighth-seeded Lakers showdown game against the top-seeded Suns.

 

Attempting to finish one of the greatest upsets in Laker history in Game 7, Bryant scored 23 points in the first half, yet the Lakers trailed 60-45. It was clear then that Bryant just didn't have enough help. He was burdened with Kwame Brown's slowness, Smush Parker's foolishness, and other pieces that just didn't fit.

 

In the second half, a frustrated Bryant seemingly made this point when he stopped shooting and, some say, stopped playing. He took only three shots in the half, scored but one point, and the Lakers lost the game, 121-90.

 

I was there. I thought it was Bryant making a statement. I don't think he purposely tried to lose, but I thought he was sending a message to the front office to clean up this mess.

 

"It was selfish, it was silly," I wrote.

 

Turns out, I was being kind. Many others around the league openly accused him of openly tanking the game, their chorus led by TNT's Charles Barkley, who called Bryant selfish and ranted enough that Bryant later appeared on the TNT show to defend himself.

 

Four years later, even after leading the Lakers to a Shaq-less title, Bryant continues to be haunted by the perception that Barkley was right.

 

"Barkley was stupid, he didn't watch the game, lots of people who were critical of me didn't even watch the game," Bryant said.

 

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[Be Like Mike]

Im disappointed it took Kobe this long to fire back at the media. Only a bleep moron would think Kobe tanked a game. phil jackson to this day has backed Kobe's play in Game 7.