Column: As hero or villain, Kobe Bryant never took the middle ground
Kobe Bryant is welcomed onto the court for his farewell game at Staples Center on April 13.
Channel the villain. Unleash the hero.
The moment Kobe Bryant announced his retirement, he chose those two sentences to define his 20 years in Los Angeles, bannering them on the home page of his website, explaining them in a box of text.
“No hero is perfect, and no villain is completely void of heroic intentions. We all live as both. What sets the great ones apart is how they use their inner villain to create something epic. It’s living as a HeroVillain. The HeroVillain channels fear, rejection, anger and doubt and turns them into strength, courage, power and determination.’”
Sometimes he was a hero. Sometimes he was a villain. Sometimes fans adored him. Sometimes fans couldn’t stand him. The only place where Kobe Bryant’s HeroVillain never tread was the middle ground, accounting for what is arguably the most memorable 20-year marriage between an athlete and town in the history of sports.
So, ultimately, what was he? Hero or villain? It is the biggest question of the Kobe Bryant era. It is also the one that will ultimately remain unanswered, even though he left plenty of clues.
HE WAS A HERO in the summer of 1996 when, as a high school senior entering the NBA draft, Bryant and his representatives essentially told every NBA team that he would play only for the Lakers. This led most clubs to ignore him until the Charlotte Hornets, in a prearranged deal, drafted him and traded him here.
HE WAS A VILLAIN … when he ended that first season by throwing up four airballs in the final minutes in a series-finishing playoff loss to the Utah Jazz. Right before his ball-hogging binge, he shouted, “Man, don’t you dream about games like this!” For Lakers fans, not so much.
Kobe Bryant signs the court late into the night at the Staples Center.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)Kobe Bryant kisses his wife Vanessa long after his last game at the Staples Center.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)Kobe Bryant leaves the court for the last time as a Laker, heading to the locker room after scoring 60 points and leading the team to a 101-96 win over the Utah Jazz.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)Kobe Bryant is all smiles after his final game at Staples Center Wednesday.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)Kobe Bryant shares a laugh with former teammate Derek Fisher on the court after scoring 60 points in his last game as a Laker at Staples Center.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)Kobe Bryant greets Lamar Odom after his final game at Staples Center.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)Kobe Bryant kisses his wife Vanessa after his final game.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)Kobe Bryant walks off the court after his final game at Staples Center.
(Christina House / For The Times)Lakers Kobe Bryant salutes the crowd at the end of the game.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)Kobe Bryant salutes the crowd at the end of his final game at Staples Center.
(Christina House / For The Times)Kobe Bryant feels the love of the fans at Staples Center following his final game.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)Lakers Kobe Bryant and A.C. Green after his final game at Staples Center.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)Kobe Bryant thanks the crowd after his final game at Staples Center.
(Christina House / For The Times)Kobe Bryant waves goodbye to the crowd after his final game at the Staples Center.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)Balloons and confetti fall after Kobe Bryant’s last game
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)A security guard stnds alone on the court after Kobe Bryant’s last game at the Staples Center Wednesday.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)Los Angeles City Hall is decorated with Lakers’ purple and gold lights for Kobe Bryant’s last game.
(Robert Lachman / Los Angeles Times)Kobe Bryant is mobbed as he scores 60-points in his final NBA game at the Staples Center.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)Kobe Bryant gets a slap from comedian George Lopez after making a three-pointer in his final game.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)Kobe Bryant watches as the ball hits the bottom of the net during his last game as a Los Angeles Laker against the Utah Jazz.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)Kobe Bryant stretches out as he makes a basket during his final game as a Laker on April 12 at Staples Center.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)Kobe Bryant drives late in the final minutes of the game at Staples Center.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)Kanye West and Jay Z greet each other before Kobe Bryant’s final game.
(Christina House / For The Times)Kobe Bryant drives the ball in the third quarter of his final game at the Staples Center Wednesday.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)Kobe Bryant tries to steal the ball in his last game as a Laker at the Staples Center Wednesday, April 12.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)Kobe Bryant shakes hands with Shaquille O’Neal at his final game at Staples Center on April 13.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)The Weeknd and girlfriend Bella Hadid arrive for Kobe Bryant’s final game at Staples Center.
(Christina House / For The Times)Kobe Bryant is stripped of the ball by Jazz guard Rodney Hood during first half action at Staples Center.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)Kobe Bryant drives to the basket during the first half of his final NBA game.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)Lamar Odom attends Kobe Bryant’s final game at Staples Center.
(Christina House / For The Times)Lakers star Kobe Bryant, center, heads to the locker room after scoring 22 points in the first half of his final game on Wednesday, April 13, 2016, at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)Kobe Bryant takes a shot in the first quarter of his final game at the Staples Center Wednesday.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)Kobe Bryant blocks a shot by Trevor Booker in his final game at Staples Center on Wednesday.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)Front row fans, including Jack Nicholson cheer Kobe Bryant after he hits a shot during first half action against the Jazz at Staples Center.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)LOS ANGELES-CA-APRIL 13, 2016: Kobe thanks the crowd before his final game at Staples Center.
(Christina House / For the Times)Kobe Bryant is welcomed onto the court for his farewell game at Staples Center on April 13.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)Kobe Bryant acknowledges the Staples Center crowd during a pregame ceremony.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)Kobe Bryant with Magic Johnson before Kobe plays his last game as a Los Angeles Laker against the Utah Jazz.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)Kobe Bryant waits for introductions before his final game at the Staples Center Wednesday, April 12.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)T-shirts await fans who attend Kobe Bryant’s final game at Staples Center.
(Christina House / For the Times)A young girl, sporting Kobe Bryant’s original No. 8 Lakers jersey, bounces a ball on the court before the future Hall-of-Famer’s final game.
(Christina House / For the Times)The Lakers store at Staples Center was all about Kobe Bryant and his merchandise on the day of his final NBA game.
(Christina House / For the Times)Fans gather outside Staples Center before Kobe Bryant’s final game in a Laker uniform.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)Rock star “Flea” rehearses the National Anthem before Kobe Bryant’s last game on April 13 as players warm-up.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)Fans gathered outside Staples Center ahead of Kobe Bryant’s final game with the Lakers.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)Lakers fans gather outside Staples Center before the final game of Kobe Bryant’s career.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)Chick Hearn Court is packed as fans descend on Staples Cener to witness Kobe Bryant play his last game as a Los Angeles Laker against the Utah Jazz.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)Lakers fans get a Kobe chant going outside Staples Center in Los Angeles before Laker great Kobe Bryant’s final game on Wednesday.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)Members of a group of Kobe Bryant fans who flew in from China, including Iris Hong of Beijing, right, get excited outside Staples Center for the player’s last game Wednesday.
(Christina House / For the Los Angeles Times)Fans sign a giant card for Kobe Bryant outside Staples Center before his final game Wednesday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)Kobe Bryant fans swarm to Staples Center in Los Angeles to show their love for the Laker great at his last game Wednesday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles TImes)Kobe Bryant footwear is on display as the Laker Girls arrive for Wednesday night’s game, the basketball star’s last.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles TImes)Fans sign a giant card for Kobe Bryant outside Staples Center in Los Angeles before his final game Wednesday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles TImes)HE WAS A HERO in the spring of 2000 when he threw the alley-oop pass to Shaquille O’Neal to clinch the memorable comeback from a 15-point, fourth-quarter deficit against the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals, leading to their first NBA title together.
HE WAS A VILLAIN because, despite the long hug he shared with O’Neal after that alley-oop, he had already openly begun feuding with the jovial big man. Bryant never respected O’Neal’s work ethic and only reluctantly passed him the ball. Earlier in that season, during a team meeting, O’Neal said he felt Bryant was playing too selfishly for the team to win.
HE WAS A HERO in the spring of 2001 when he led the Lakers to a 15-1 record in the playoffs en route to their second championship, causing even O’Neal to begrudgingly declare him as the best player in the league.
HE WAS A VILLAIN the following season during the All-Star game in Philadelphia, when he was booed so badly in his hometown that his eyes filled with tears. He was hated there because during the previous NBA Finals, he had yelled at a 76ers fan that he was going to “cut your hearts out.”
HE WAS A VILLAIN during the 2003 season when he openly questioned O’Neal for not having more timely surgery on an arthritic toe that bothered him through the season. This eventually led to the Lakers’ early elimination in the playoffs and a rift between the two men that would not heal.
HE WAS A HERO … actually, no, in the summer of 2003, he stopped being a hero altogether.
HE WAS A VILLAIN when he was charged with sexual assault in the summer of 2013 in Eagle, Colo., after engaging in an admitted adulterous encounter with a 19-year-old hotel employee.
HE WAS A VILLAIN when he held a tearful news conference shortly after the charge was filed, during which he claimed innocence of sexual assault but admitted to adultery. With his wife Vanessa sitting uncomfortably by his side, he said, “I sit here before you guys embarrassed and ashamed.”
HE WAS A VILLAIN when he played in the 2003-04 season while also spending time in Colorado preparing for the potential sexual assault trial. He would show up at games exhausted and distracted.
Chicago Bulls great Michael Jordan, left, guards Lakers star Kobe Bryant during the 1998 NBA All-Star Game.
(Mark Lennihan / Associated Press)Lakers star Kobe Bryant, right, speaks with Coach Phil Jackson in 2010.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)Lakers teammates Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, right, celebrate in the closing seconds of the team’s NBA Championship win over the Orlando Magic in Game 5 of the 2009 NBA Finals.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)Lamar Odom and Kobe Bryant share a laugh before a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Staples Center on Nov. 9, 2010.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)Lakers star Kobe Bryant, left, speaks with Coach Byron Scott during a game against the San Antonio Spurs last December.
(Eric Gay / Associated Press)Lakers star Kobe Bryant drives to the basket past Miami Heat guard Mario Chalmers during a game at Staples Center on Jan. 13, 2015.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)Lakers star Kobe Bryant, left, poses for photos with FC Barcelona captain Andrés Iniesta Luján before a training session at the StubHub Stadium in Carson on July 20, 2015.
(Mark Ralston / AFP/Getty Images)Kobe Bryant poses for a photo at the Beverly Hills Hilton on July 18, 2014. Bryant was limited to 35 games during the 2014-15 season because of injury.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)Lakers guard Kobe Bryant fields questions from reporters surrounding him during the Lakers’ media day in El Segundo.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)Lakers guard Kobe Bryant fields questions from television reporters during the Lakers’ media day in El Segundo.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)Lakers guard Kobe Bryant is surrounded by reporters while doing a radio interview during the Lakers’ media day in El Segundo.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)Kobe Bryant tries to steal the ball from Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried during a game at Staples Center on Nov. 3.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)HE WAS A VILLAIN when the case was eventually dropped after the woman refused to testify. A civil suit was later settled out of court and Bryant, without ever admitting guilt, publicly apologized.
HE WAS A HERO, once again, at the end of 2004 season when he hit acrobatic jump shots in the final seconds of regulation and double overtime to give the Lakers a division-title-clinching win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
HE WAS A VILLAIN when the 2004 season ended in an NBA Finals series loss to the Detroit Pistons, during which Bryant pointedly refused to include O’Neal in the offense. Shortly after the season ended, Phil Jackson’s contract was not renewed and O’Neal was traded.
HE WAS A HERO in 2006 with his 81-point game against the Toronto Raptors, the second-highest point total in NBA history.
HE WAS A VILLAIN because, c’mon man, do you know how many assists he had in that 81-point game? Two. He took 46 shots and had two assists.
HE WAS A HERO in 2009 and 2010 when he proved he could win an NBA title — two of them — without O’Neal. The lasting image of those titles occurred after the 2010 Finals victory over the Boston Celtics, after a dramatic Game 7 victory, with Bryant standing on the Staples Center press table, his arms raised while confetti fell around him.
HE WAS A VILLAIN in 2011 when he shouted a homophobic slur toward NBA official Bennie Adams. He was fined $100,000 and issued a public apology.
HE WAS A HERO when he hobbled to the foul line and made two free throws after tearing his Achilles’ tendon in April 2013.
HE WAS A VILLAIN when, seven months later, he accepted the Lakers’ two-year, $48.5-million extension even though he had yet to recover from the Achilles injury and the contract would hamstring the Lakers’ ability to improve their team for several years.
HE WAS A HERO last November when, realizing his skills had diminished such that he was statistically ranked as the worst player in the NBA, he announced his retirement with a poem on a website and a letter to Lakers fans.
HE WAS A VILLAIN when, in five of the six games after his retirement announcement, he played at least 30 minutes including all of crunch time, leading critics to wonder whether he shouldn’t quietly step off stage so the younger Lakers could get more experience.
HE WAS A HERO when, seven games after his retirement announcement, amid all the criticism, he sat out the entire fourth quarter and overtime in a game in Minnesota after handing the ball to the kids and telling Coach Byron Scott to “Let ‘em go.”
It is time, now, for Los Angeles to finally let Kobe Bryant go.
Goodbye, hero. Farewell, villain.
Follow Bill Plaschke on Twitter: @billplaschke
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Bill Plaschke has been an L.A. Times columnist since 1996. He has been named national sports columnist of the year eight times by the Associated Press, and twice by the Society of Professional Journalists and National Headliner Awards. He is the author of five books, including a collection of his columns entitled, “Plaschke: Good Sports, Spoil Sports, Foul Ball and Oddballs.” Plaschke is also a panelist on the popular ESPN daily talk show, “Around the Horn.” For his community service, he has been named Man of the Year by the Los Angeles Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and has received a Pursuit of Justice Award from the California Women’s Law Center. Plaschke has appeared in a movie (“Ali”), a dramatic HBO series (“Luck”) and, in a crowning cultural moment he still does not quite understand, his name can be found in a rap song “Females Welcome” by Asher Roth. In case you were wondering – and he was – “Plaschke” is rhymed with “Great Gatsby.”
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