Kobe's Turnover

I dislike Kobe Bryant. I root against him when he is on the court. I think that he is a phony and only cares about himself. He's thrown teammates under a bus. He's thrown his family into the spotlight because of his own negative actions. In all sincerity, I am extremely biased against anything involving Bryant.

But I believe the outrage over Bryant's latest action is unjust.

Now someone might be thinking "Wait a minute, this is the perfect situation to completely rip the guy apart?"

Absolutely. He said a derogatory comment about gay people. He made the comment on the national stage. His comment has been seen millions of times on YouTube, blogs, televesion, etc. But I truly believe that it was all in the heat of the moment.

I'm not a professional athlete nor claim to be one. But I completey get it. You get frustrated. Your focus is on doing your best. And you say something out of pure emotion. Bryant just happened to say something that was way over the line.

My issue is that society takes things over the line. It was a mistake. It was in the moment. Had it screamed it in the locker room or into his towel, no one would have even known. But celebrities are always looked at under a microscope. Cameras are on them 24/7. They have to watch their every move. They can't make mistakes.

When a husband and wife are arguing and a husband goes "I hate you!" to his wife, does the husband mean that?

I am not justifying what was said. But rather than people be offended by every little thing, I think society needs to take a step back and understand that lapses are going to happen. He probably heard this type of language while he was growing up. It was engrained in his head. It doesn't mean he believes it, but this was in his upbringing.

And that is where the root of the issue lies. I think kids and young adults need to be further educated on what is right to say and what is not. Parents need to be the teachers. The education system needs to make it a focal point. Society should do what they can to eliminate offensive words.

Bryant was taught a hard lesson. But he should not try to take away from the emotions that have made him the (gulp) best player in the NBA.