While he is injured, we should call Kobe the “Instagramba”.
The evolution of Kobe Bryant as he has gotten older has been remarkable. He has always maintained the same high level on the court even in his 17th season, but the change off the court has been the most shocking thing of all.
A lot of the criticism of Kobe, and one of the reasons I wasn’t a huge fan early on, was that appeared to be a single minded automaton. A robot bred for one purpose and one purpose only. Take the blueprint of Michael Jordan, from the way he played on the court to the way he answered questions off it, and try to be exactly like that.
He was so measured and calculating that we never got to see his real personality. It is why people were so critical after the incident in Eagle, we enjoyed seeing the robot catching a virus.
But with advanced age (in basketball terms, because damn, he is two years younger than me) I guess he has mellowed out and with a legacy already cemented and most questions answered, he has cut loose.
When we reported that Kobe had joined Twitter back in January, the question was asked, would it be really him or some ghost tweeters. Personally, I fully expected some generic crap about great Lakers victories and occasional retweets of fans begging because it is their barber’s 38th birthday.
But Kobe’s twitter (and then instagram) usage has been on par with his performance on the court. He has been fully interactive, and now with the injury he has a lot more time apparently. He has shown pictures going into surgery and with teammates visiting (including this hilarious picture with Pau Gasol where it is evident that Kobe hasnt mastered the crop tool).
Then early this morning he sent out the above picture of his wife Vanessa wrapping his leg to take a shower with the following caption.
#sexynurse shower prepping the leg for me. Can’t get stitches wet but still gotta wash my ass #countonsoap
“Wash my ass.” Welcome to the new Kobe.
He also said he will be watching the first two games against the Spurs from home and live tweeting the experience. Should make for a fun time.