ESPN reporter Shelly Smith has a storied history with Kobe Bryant. She says after he gave her the silent treatment for 10-years, he is talking now. From The NY Post:
Q: Did anyone’s reaction to it surprise you?
A: Kobe and I started speaking after 10 years. I am not sure if it’s because I had cancer or if it’s because he is in a weird place right now — he’s being nice to everybody right now because he wants to go out being beloved. I covered his rape trial in Colorado and there were things I reported that he disagreed with. He told me he’d never speak to me again, and this was 10 years ago. It was real nasty and awkward. At media day this year, Lakers PR came over and said he’d do an interview and he came up to me and gave me a big hug. My jaw hit the floor.
Now whether it’s just an act or a true coming to terms with reality moment for Kobe, only time will tell. More from Smith via The NY Post:
Q: Is Bryant’s new niceness working?
A: I don’t quite buy it. Everyone I talk to, no one believes it, because he wants to go out beloved like [Michael] Jordan did. He wants to go off into the sunset as a superhero, but we all remember how badly he treated a lot of us.
When you’re on a mission like Kobe was and have the insane focus that Kobe posses, you’re going to probably make some bad decisions along the way. You just don’t have the time or brain power to put energy toward things like being a nice person- it takes energy to treat people well, especially the amount of people Kobe deals with. Not to mention Kobe being picked apart in the media surrounding his legal issues in Colorado. If you had everyone speculating like that about you, I bet you would be a little bit sensitive too. I’m not saying it’s right that he was that way, I’m just saying I could understand why he alienated people.