Kobe’s expensive website

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August 11, 2009

I can’t really win, when it comes to Kobe Bryant.

He’s been unfairly maligned for so long, by so many pathetic
people, that when I put up well-researched musings that fly in the face of what
Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson tell you - his clutch play isn’t as hot as you
would think, same with his defense, overall he hasn’t been as good a basketball
player as LeBron James (or a healthy Dwyane Wade) over the last few years - I
get lumped in with those who make Colorado jokes or those who hate Kobe "just ‘cause."

Hell, just a few weeks ago, I was termed a Kobe
"hater" just
for pointing out that Lamar Odom (as a way to point out just how brilliant
Odom is) had a better plus/minus last season than Kobe. Doesn’t mean he’s better than Kobe, it just means … ah,
it doesn’t matter. I mentioned Bryant’s name. That’s enough for 600 comments.

It stinks. I work at this stuff, and it’s pretty numbing to
be lumped in with message board mugs when I’m watching and re-watching and
re-re-watching games, only to call him a 9.7 out of 10, and see nothing but
vitriol aimed my way as a result.

But this,
I’m sorry, we can all agree on it. There’s absolutely no reason why the
Kobester should be charging $25 a year for admission to his own website.

Player sites, good god, they’re awful. They have been for
years. I haven’t frequented any of them, ever, because there’s absolutely
nothing to learn from them. Nothing to gain about the game. Same with most tweets,
from NBA players, and about 95 percent of quotes from NBA types. By and large,
if you want to learn about the game, you have to watch the games. Not listen to
the participants talk about it.

So, the idea that Kobe
would ask his fans for $25 a year to, well, let’s let
LABallTalk run down the list:

An exclusive KB24 T-Shirt
Access to exclusive content
including videos, audio and photos
Members-only access to
exclusive contests.
Access to exclusive KB24
events
Access to member only
messageboards, blogs, social network.
Exclusive access to KB24 events
(chat/blogs/live video/listening party, meet & greets etc).
Much More.

Is there anything there you would want anything to do with?
Contests? To win another shirt? The "KB24 T-Shirt," wouldn’t that be some
heavily adorned black T that you wouldn’t be surprised to see a Dane Cook
advocate wear? And are Laker fans really hurting for message boards, blogs, and
social networking outlets? Do they have to pay Kobe Bryant - the man who has
been making eight figures as player for the last ten years - 25 bucks a month
for the right to all this?

And, if you’ll follow the LABallTalk link, you’ll find out
that the price has been recently slashed in half. That’s right, it used to run close
to $50 a month.

Pathetic.

Kobe,
I’m sure, has nothing to do with this. He’s just as bored with this sort of
stuff as any other NBA player, but more than any other NBA player, he’s at
least telling his representation, "yeah, sure, whatever …" while he’s at a gym
shooting jumpers; as opposed to saying the same thing while working the 12^th
hole, or at a Dave and Buster’s, or some seedier late night outfit. Bryant, to
his credit, doesn’t give a rip while he’s actually working on his game.

But there’s no excuse for this sort of lame, (small) cash
grab. I know how much it costs to run a website. I was working on one during Kobe’s rookie year. I
know how much video hosting costs, I was working on a video-heavy site before
Phil Jackson even became Kobe’s
coach. I know that there are people to pay, and that content can’t come free,
forever.

I know we shouldn’t expect free things.

But when you’re a well-compensated star making close to $30
million a year after endorsements set in, shouldn’t you - I dunno - give a
little back to the dorks that buy your shoes, and buy those lame T-shirts, and
are bored enough to check in to see what you had for lunch and what you thought
about the new "Harry Potter" movie?

Can’t you just write that stuff off, at least, while you
plug your many endorsements on a site you truly have nothing to do with?

Kobe?
Wake up. Some idiots in your entourage are making you look a right tool. You
might have to only make 300 jumpers today, instead of 500, and work this one
out.