Kobe Bryant's Public Outburst

Kobe Bryant is easily one of the most polarizing figures in professional sports. He is loved or loathed - mostly depending on which zip code you happen to reside in. His talent is undeniable, but he seems to lack a few intangibles that make a good basketball player a great one.

If you have watched the past NBA season and felt like you had a Kobe Bryant public relations campaign shoved down your throat, you are not alone.

Kobe and his people have launched an aggressive campaign to make him appear like a good teammate...mostly because he isn't one. Oh he's a good teammate when it's convenient for him. When the team is winning or when he's having a great game. But when the tables turn and he is left to answer for a loss, he has been known to cast the blame off of himself and throw his teammates under the proverbial bus.

A few short seasons ago, the star player of the current world champion Los Angeles Lakers went on a media rampage where he publicly criticized teammates and management alike and demanded a trade. His feeling was that management had not been one hundred percent honest with him about their intentions to build a legitimate championship contender.

This was not the first time Kobe publicly dissed a teammate. He and Shaquille O'Neal had a bitter public feud that ended with Shaq being traded to Miami - and subsequently winning a championship there. Most well known episode, during the investigation of the rape charges against Kobe Bryant, Kobe claimed that Shaq had paid women to keep quiet about his infidelity.

Kobe clearly missed the class in kindergarten where teamwork was discussed. In a basketball game, there is no place for a selfish personality. Basketball is a sport where you need your teammates - one person is not capable of winning a basketball game, no matter how unbelievably talented you are. You win as a team and lose as a team. Kobe Bryant does not seem to understand this. While he seems to be making an effort to be a better teammate now, it appears to be only for the benefit of the camera.

There is no way to justify an outburst like the one Kobe Bryant had about his teammates. He has made it difficult for his teammates to trust him since they know that when things start going wrong, Kobe will start pointing the finger. The media keeps trying to convince us that Kobe has changed and trusts his teammates now and that's what made the difference in this year's finals, but let's just say it's a tough sell. At least to those of us who don't live in Los Angeles.