先說抱歉. 我用了一個聳動的標題. 可是真的和文章內容有關喔.
ESPN.com 今天有一篇文章有關Kobe Bryant成為Sony PS2 "NBA '07: The Life Vol. 2" 封面. Kobe在Watts (洛杉磯比較亂的一區)的少年中心陪小朋友玩. Kobe特別的地方是在他不只是捐錢給這些慈善機構, 他還願意親身參與. 其實NBA有很多球員都很熱心公益. Shaq也曾經捐警車給洛杉磯警局. 看NBA比賽廣告時也常常看到很多球員陪小朋友讀書. 不管這是不是NBA行銷做出來的印像. 可是在一般人看到的是好的, 正面的. 這些人, 不只是在他們的專業出類拔萃, 還能在比賽之外做正面的示範. 而不是沒事上上綜藝節目. 才是真正的偶像.
請不要搬Kobe之前的案子出來, 沒人真正知道事實如何. 我發這篇只是希望大家知道NBA球員(部分, 不代表全部) 是很熱心公益的.
以下是原文, Kobe真的被電, 還被Ben Wallace過 Orz......
(http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=alipour/060926)
Hangin' with the Kobes
By Sam Alipour
Special to Page 2
LOS ANGELES -- Try as he might, Kobe Bryant just can't get his game right.
Standing on an indoor court in late August, the normally ice-cold Lakers assassin is well past the point of cocksure half-smiles and winks and popped collars. Forget that junk. It won't work here.
Bryant has already cast his purple-and-gold polo aside. Now he's in a gray tank top and on his heels, sweating and stammering and gyrating like a porpoise while tossing up earth-rattling bricks and rainbow airballs from way too far outside, generally forcing the issue and -- perhaps for the first time in his life -- getting beat with the orb in his hand.
Most mildly competitive humanoids could shake off such a whupping. Not Kobe the Lion, King of Competition. For dudes like Bryant, this is a nightmare. Like being slipped four too many drops of acid. At a circus. In Moscow. While locked in what you can only assume is a mortal feud between Russian knife-eaters and three-eyed Joes. There's only one way out, and that's on a stretcher. And Bryant could use one right now.
Now, Angelinos … breathe. Exhale. Then pry your jaws from your keyboards.
Kobe's beatdown has nothing to with his ailing knee, and everything to do with the 13-year-old pumpkin he's staring down.
And those darn complicated PlayStation remotes.
That's right -- Bryant is merely playing a video game, Sony's "NBA '07: The Life Vol. 2," for which he's the cover athlete. And though it's his game, and he's playing with his team, the virtual Lakers, against the virtual Raptors -- the same wobbly runts on whom Bryant dropped 81 -- Kobe sucks at it.
Oh, and it gets worse. Much worse. The kid is talking junk.
"You're weak, Kobe," says the pumpkin. "Just garbage."
"So that's what's up?" Bryant replies, making no effort to contain his laughter. "OK, get ready now."
That's it? No trash talk? No index-wagging? No Raja-like clotheslines?
Yes, sir, this ain't your good ol' Kobe of yesterday. This is Kobe 2.0. Kobe24. A new man with a new jersey number -- one that he says signifies the second half of his career. Now, Kobe is losing 12-2 at the end of the first quarter -- and he's loving it.
And that's because this isn't his party. It's theirs.
The Watts/Willowbrook Boys & Girls Club might be the site of Bryant's announcement as the game's cover athlete, but to the at-risk children who return here in times of need, the club is a shelter, a beacon of hope and a sanctuary free of the rap music that now blares from all the passing cars outside.
Still, for a big-ticket video game featuring a big-name star, today's announcement is surprisingly muted. Who's invited? Just the kids and some Sony suits. Les Jones, the club's executive director, says the under-the-radar jig is par for Bryant's course. "Kobe never wants press when he's here," Jones explains. "He wants to bond with these kids. To get to know them one-on-one."
Since his first no-frills visit in '03 for a health fair, Bryant has regularly returned to the club, hosting a sneaker design contest (he wore the winning sneaks for Game "81" and has kept in touch with the young man who designed them) and Christmas toy giveaways. Recently, Bryant donated $25K -- and had Nike match that -- toward a gym renovation, the same joint that Kobe and the kids now game in.
"Kobe's support is huge from the standpoint that this is Watts, which has a mostly negative reputation of poverty and crime," Jones continues. "We don't get a lot of people who are willing to extend themselves to us. And for him to actually come out is huge. People oftentimes send a check, and we appreciate that. But when you come out and you let these kids sit on your lap …"
Jones pauses for a breather.
"Kobe's special."
Why, then, has the notoriously stealth seven-time All-Star flipped the script?
"In the past, I'd intentionally keep a lot of stuff private," Bryant explains. "But I realize it's important to bring attention to some of the things I do, like my work with this club. You can make donations, but the money runs out. The more people see this place, then the more they understand it. By me taking it public, and letting people know what I do for these organizations, it heightens the awareness for the organizations themselves. That's something that carries on."
So no, Bryant confirms, this isn't some image-splattering campaign by the media.
"I don't think it's intentional because the media just doesn't know," says Bryant, who recently went public with a Make-a-Wish endeavor for ESPN. "Even when I did Make-a-Wish, they said it was the first one I did. I've been a board member. I've had a relationship with them for 10 years. But that's fine with me."
Moments later, Bryant takes to the podium. He tells the kids that choosing the club as the site of the announcement was a no-brainer. They squeal, he smiles, and then walks to an aisle and pulls a black cloak to unveil the game's cover art.
The photo? Bryant focused, driving the lane, and wearing jersey No. 24.
"I guess it takes some getting used to," Bryant tells me of his new/old number. "I wore the number in high school, so it's a lot easier for me to adjust than it is for my fans. They've seen No. 8 for 10 years. For them, it'll be weird."
Still, Bryant admits he is chomping at the bit. "I've worn it once," he adds, referencing the cover photo shoot. "But it's not the same as putting it on and running onto the floor. Then it's for real."
Real will have to wait. Bryant turns his attention back to the game consoles, of which he's donated a truckload to the club.
He should have saved a few for himself, because he's getting blown out by yet another kid and staring down at the complicated handset like it's a three-legged elf. Forget Raja Bell's lack of hugs. Between Italian lessons and annihilating the neighbors' kids in backyard hoops, it's clear there wasn't much time for "Lakers vs. Celtics" on Nintendo in the Bryant household. Kobe is so bad, the virtual Kobe misses a three-foot jumper.
"You've got no game, Kobe!" yells a pimple-faced goon, who's now one of many Kobe-eaters who, having sensed fear and clumsy fingers, swept down from the rafters to ground Kobe's ego into salt.
And, conspiracy theorists stop there. Don't think for a second that Kobe is tanking it. In fact, as a virtual Ben Wallace deftly drives the lane on Kobe's D, he's starting to get peeved.
"Yo, this ain't right!" Bryant says. "Ben Wallace can't handle the ball! If he can handle it, Kwame can handle it." (note. 看到這句我狂笑)
Kwame can't. When Kobe tries to penetrate with Brown, he's picked clean. There's more yapping, and now I'm just feeling bad for the guy.
Finally, Bryant determines he's had enough. Too much losing. Far too much talking. Bryant has begun taking whispered instructions from a Sony technician.
So, yeah, Kobe's cheating. And it's working. Kobe's Kwame hits a fadeaway and Vladimir Radmonivic hits back-to-back 3s.
"Oh no, I'm getting my swagger now," says Bryant, just before Smush Parker throws down a two-handed jam. Bryant saves face with a respectable loss.
"I played as a kid," says Bryant, talking up what he calls "ruthless" competition with cousins back in the day. "Back then, I was always surprised to see Mark Price dunking. John Stockton doing a windmill. But this game gets it right. Smush was running the offense pretty good and Vlad played true to form. He can shoot in real life, and he can shoot in the game. The game is pretty realistic."
Right, and Kwame hits many clutch turnaround jumpers over Rasheed Wallace. Happens all the time.
Kobe laughs and bows his head. "Let's just say that was a good sign," he says.
So, if the game is real, the '06-07 NBA season will feature the Lakers as doormats, right?
"Naw, the Lakers are actually good in this game," Bryant says. Then, referencing a teen who had snatched the Lakers before Bryant in an earlier game, Bryant adds, "That kid who took the Lakers was moving the ball around and hitting jumpers.
"He knows how to play with the Lakers better than I do."
Bryant catches himself and does a double-take. Then he laughs.
"You know what I mean."
Yes, I do. And so do Cookie and your Slovenian Paisan.
打不動真籃球就只好玩Fantasy了