Kobe Bryant, Anti-Gay Slurs, & the Fans who Defend Homophobia & "Rape Culture"

NBA superstar and all around superhuman wannabe-rapper, Shaquille O'Neal, dissed Kobe Bryant by kicking a fresh sixteen onetime with the hook, "Kobe, tell me how my ass taste." I'm not sure if you remember that, but we all laughed. Speaking of memory lane; I bet you didn't remember that at one point in time, Kobe was also poised to get into the rap game with the launch of an album. An album that we all figured would be reminiscent of another famed Philly rapper who broke it down about the complexities of the child-parent relationship. Surely as clean cut as pre-rape Kobe was, there was no way he'd release an album with the typical misogyny of your everyday NBA player-wannabe-rapper type. Shout out to former Laker Cedric Ceballos?

But then came the Colorado rape allegations, and suddenly Kobe wasn't as clean cut as everyone thought him to be. I mean let's be honest: you don't get to do Sprite commercials with a tarnished image. Yep, just ask Chris Brown; he knows how that works. So here we are today, several years removed from the teary-eyed press conference, the apology, and most important of all, the number change which marked the "rebirth" of the Kobe Bryant brand. After all, it was the number-eight-wearing Kobe who cheated on his wife, and had the potential of spending years in prison for rape. Yep, number-twenty-four-wearing Kobe would do no such thing; and all was forgotten by Laker fans.

Kobe bounced back, and even won a few more championships along the way. Yes, the heir apparent was back. Well, that would be up until being handed a $100,000 fine by NBA commissioner-for-life David Stern, for an on-court outburst directed at a referee. Kobe "allegedly" (I gotta say allegedly because I wasn't there and I ain't trynna get sued) called the referee a "fucking faggot," in a not-so-friendly sorta way. Let's just say he said it not in the same way a guy will say it to his buddy; not without the expectation of being punched in the face. But at some point you grow up, and you don't play that game. You realize it to be immature, and you don't use the word. Definitely not towards a guy you don't know as an expression of discontent. That is, unless you're into pain and getting your teeth kicked in, in some weird death wish fetish "Fight Club" sorta way. Believe it or not, there are actually people like this; but not Kobe Bryant.

"My actions were out of frustration during the heat of the game, period [...] The words expressed do NOT reflect my feelings towards the gay and lesbian communities and were NOT meant to offend anyone." - Kobe Bryant

Now the thing that bugs me, is that some people are unhappy with the discipline levied by the NBA. For some, this is really no big deal, and it's not like he smacked the referee, choked his coach, or anything deserving of a $100,000 fine and a one game suspension. Yes, one friggin' game, and his fans are mad. I swear the way some are responding to this, you'd think Kobe Bryant was gon' let them hold some money tomorrow or something. Of course some people take the F-A-N in the word fanatic quite seriously, and can be a bit irrational. For example, I love Brett Favre, and I don't see what was the big fuss about him sending pictures of his penis to a lady who never requested them. OK, so what he's married; with the advances in technology those rules go out the window; everybody sends naked pics to people these days; what, you've never used a social networking site? OK, I'm straying a bit, but you get the point.