Kobe Bryant is selfish is the oldest, most tired complaint in sports. Is he selfish? Yes. Does he want to score 100 points a game? Yes. Does he want to be the best player to ever play? Yes. Is that any different from Michael, Larry, Magic, or even Lebron? No.

Great players do what it takes to win. We are seeing, with Lebron right now, that sometimes individuals have to do it on their own. When Lebron took every shot down the stretch in his memorable performance against the Pistons last season did we call him selfish? No. Did we say "Come on Lebron, pass it." No. He had to shoot to win, and Ilgauskus, Hughes, Gooden, Gibson, and whomever else was on the court had to set picks for him, rebound, pass, and play defense. All aspects of the game, just as well as scoring. But it makes no sense to get it to guys who can't put it in the basket just to be fair.

Kobe had been in that situation for years. Now with the return of Fisher, aquisition of Gasol, and emergence of Bynum, Farmar, Vujacick, we are seeing a different Kobe.

Kobe did what he had to do to try and win for the Lakers. And that was score. That is what he does. No one turns to Bruce Bowen and calls him selfish because he won't step aside and let Matt Bonner cover the Kobe's, Lebrons, and Melo's of the league. No one yells selfish at Chris Paul because he always sets up the offense. No one yells at Dwight Howard because he is just getting every rebound and not letting the other guys even have a chance. Kobe was getting the points the Lakers needed. Even with a hand in his face had better odds than most of making the shot. The other 4 guys still have jobs, and they weren't doing them. Kobe was doing his.

Kobe is damned if he does, and damned if he doesn't. He scored 81. He was a ball hog. Doesn't shoot, and he's not shooting enough. That is the proof. Kobe is not selfish. Kobe isn't well liked.

When an athlete is disliked people will come up with any reason to hate him. Tom Brady is referred to as arrogant, and no one has ever heard an arrogant word out of his mouth. People just dislike him. With Kobe, it comes from one man. Shaquille. Shaquille is the popular one, the class clown who is everyone's friend. He is also like the snotty mean girl who can turn the entire crown against someone. Kobe did want to shoot. And so did Shaq. But DWade also wanted to shoot, and Shaq wanted to shoot also. Pippen wanted to shoot sometimes instead of Michael. That is always going to occur. Shaq didn't turn

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