Much to my chagrin, I've always been reluctant to join the social media bandwagon, only to find each new platform has become indispensable to my consumption of information. I joined Facebook as a freshman in high school, but only gave it a second thought with the demise of MySpace during my sophomore year. I created a Twitter as a junior, but didn't send my first tweet until I was a sophomore in college. For this reason and many others, my social media presence differs from Kobe Bryant's.
Twitter transformed the way we interact with people and events that we only used to see through a hypermediated perspective. If you know where to look, there is a constant stream of unfettered access to primary sources. The narrative context provided by traditional news organizations, about sports, politics, or, as we experienced last week, terrorist attacks, has become less essential. The evolution of information delivery has its advantages and disadvantages, but this isn't a media criticism column. It's a sports column, so let's get back to Kobe.
Bryant was late to the Twitter-ization of celebrities and professional athletes. But like the overachiever he is, the Black Mamba had 365,000 followers after his first day on the site. Today, Bryant has more than 2.3 million followers. Needless to say, he has been the subject of endless public spectacle, from comparisons to Michael Jordan to accusations of rape, since he was the bouncy 17-year-old rookie who became an All-Star starter before even starting on the Los Angeles Lakers.
Last Sunday, the Lakers took the court for a playoff game without Bryant for the first time since the 1999-2000 season. A 12-year streak, Bryant took the court in the Lakers last 173 postseason appearances. In the lead up to the game in San Antonio, basketball fans and media alike focused their attention on the Lakers' twin towers: Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol. Yet, unsurprisingly, it was Bryant, from his couch on the Westside of Los Angeles, who got the most attention in game one.
Kobe had much to say about how the Lakers performed during game one. No, I don't just mean that he had a lot to say about how his team played I mean he live-tweeted during the game.
"Gotta get to the block. See wat spurs r gonna do with pau and d12," one tweet said. Another reads: "What I would say if I was there right now? Pau get ur ass on the block and don't move till u get it #realtalk.""
His game advice can be comprehensively summed up by his next tweet: "Post. Post. Post."
The substance of the tweets themselves was less than revelatory. What made this a national story, getting play for almost a week now, is the power dynamic it illuminated between Kobe and Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni.
One man holds the franchise record for games played, points scored, and a literal handful of championship rings, while the other, well, you have to call him coach. So when after the game D'Antoni was asked about the injured superstar's in-game comments, he brushed them off in an attempt to take control of a team that, in fact, has never been his.
"It's great to have that commentary," D'Antoni remarked, rolling his eyes in the press conference. "He's a fan right now. He's a fan. You guys put a little bit more importance on that kind of fan. He's a fan, he gets excited, I'm sure he wants to be part of it."
Not only is Bryant a fan, he is a fan compounded to the fourth degree.
After failing to endear himself to his star player throughout the Lakers' dramatic push to make the playoffs, this seemed like it could be the nail in D'Antoni's coffin. That night, Kobe returned to the scene of the crime, tweeting: "A fan?? Lol #microphonetalk."
For all of the acrimony between player and coach, the internal discord that must be plaguing Kobe ultimately led him to the right decision for the Lakers. If he wanted to maintain a cordial relationship with his coach, as friendly is certainly beyond hope at this point, the social media subversion of D'Antoni needed to cease. And that it did.
A whole two days before the Lakers played game two in San Antonio, Kobe sounded off: "To tweet or not to tweet.. I CHOOSE not 2. Focus should be on the team not my insight. @georgelopez voice Can't DO nothin!' #vinospeare."
He managed to stay silent all of Wednesday night.
