
If you have followed the NBA over the last few years there is no doubt in your mind that Kobe Bryant is a very tough man. Last season New York Vinnie took the “Black Mamba” to task for not having a procedure done at the start of training camp that would have gotten rid of the Frickin pain he was feeling in his pinkie finger. However Kobe did not want to miss any of the season and the Lakers All-Star was up to the task playing all season long and leading his team to the NBA Championship last June.
There is also no doubt that Kobe Bryant is a very stubborn man; Bryant makes a decision and then finds it really hard to back down. He is also in a situation that he calls all the shots on when and if he will play injured or not. In Los Angeles Kobe is the “Emperor” and nobody is about to tell him there is something wrong with his “New Frickin Clothes“!
It is time once again for New York Vinnie to tell you a very famous story about the “Emperor And His New Clothes.” Way Way back in the olden times there was a country that was ruled by an Emperor who thought that he was always right and he would surround himself with staff that would back him to the Frickin hilt! One day these two Frickin Con-Men show up at the Palace and they say they are the “Finest Tailors In All Of The World” and that they want to make the Emperor the Frickin Sharpest Suit that has ever been made out of this brand new “Special Material.”
Well as New York Vinnie wrote above these guys were con-men, and they were out to rob the Frickin Emperor. So they decide to play on his vanity. They say they have this incredibly special silk that only Highly Frickin Intelligent folks can see. Truth was this Frickin Pair Of PUDS had nothing in their Frickin hands except for Frickin air! But the Emperor was ashamed to admit he could see the silk so when the Frickin Con-Men started to OOOH And AAAH the Emperor did the same.
Now all the Emperors Frickin Royal Advisers were brought in and told about the special material; none of them wanted to seem like Frickin Dim-Wits so they all pretended they saw it as well! The suit was Frickin expensive as hell and the Con-Men got their money and went on their way.
The next day the Emperor went out to show off his new suit. Everybody pretended they could see the suit except for one old senile lady. This woman walked up to the Emperor and asked him why he was walking around stark Frickin naked. The Emperor and his advisers were outraged; and told the woman she clearly was not intelligent enough to see the special material. The Old Lady would have the last Frickin laugh though as she walked up to the Emperor and pulled a clump of hair off his chest and handed it to him!
The Los Angeles Lakers do not have someone on that club that is going to tell Kobe what to do. It sure is not going to be Coach Zen who spoke with the “Los Angeles Times” about his star. Jackson told reporters “I don’t see why unless he’s hurting the team out there and there would be a long-term situation in which if he played now, it could affect him for five to 10 games later on. The team would have to suffer with him on the floor. We’re not at that point yet.”
New York Vinnie has a question for you; if that point had occurred do you think Jackson would have the stones to tell his All-Star? New York Vinnie would say no Frickin way is Jackson going to say a thing. A reporter asked Kobe if he was planning on playing Friday against the Clippers. Bryant responded “That’s insulting.”
New York Vinnie admires The Black Mamba’s attitude that he does not want to show weakness. However New York Vinnie knows that the Frickin inmates can not run the Frickin Asylum. That is what seems to be the relationship that has developed in Los Angeles. What Kobe wants Kobe gets! It worked last year but will it work again this year?
New York Vinnie will tell you this; Kobe Bryant is not doing himself or his team any favors by playing through the pain. Get healthy and come back at full strength when it means something. Sometimes it takes a real Big Man to admit they are wrong. Is Kobe Big enough to do that ?