Kobe Bryant did his best to squash criticism of an Instagram post on Wednesday in which the Los Angeles Lakers icon called out a player on the youth girls team he coaches for skipping a game in favor a dance recital.
The internet mayhem began almost immediately after Bryant posted a photo of he and his middle-school aged team on social media. Rather than smiling while posing with their fourth-place trophies, the girls and coaches, Bryant included, are each wearing a scowl, apparently unimpressed with their finish.
What could have been an amusing example of the future Hall-of-Famer's notorious competitiveness rubbing off on his pupils, though, instead turned into a controversy for the accompanying caption in which Bryant invokes the “focus” of the player who was absent.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B2SC-p6nN2y/
Understandably, people began criticizing Bryant for his completely unnecessary shot at a young girl, one broadcast to his 10.2 million-user following on Instagram. Bryant attempted to walk back his inflammatory comments shortly thereafter, insisting he was merely explaining why she wasn't in the photo rather than denouncing the player's choice to attend a dance recital.
Doing a dance to miss the game isn’t a bad thing. That’s not what I was saying. I was just giving context as to why she wasn’t in the picture. All my girls play/played diff sports. It’s all good and For the record I followed their lead on not smiling. They HATED those trophies
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) September 11, 2019
One problem: In his initial post, Bryant gave away the game by adding “…so that should tell you where her focus was at this time.” He continued insisting his comments were taken out of context in multiple follow-up interactions, too, even editing the original post to help stem the growing disapproval.
sorry if it came across as a slight, trust me it wasn’t. I was just giving the reason for her not being in the pic. They chose not to smile for the pic I actually followed their lead. Our team has become family and this includes the 7th player
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) September 11, 2019
🤷🏽♂️ some kids hate loosing bro and that’s ok. They have worked hard to improve because of it.
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) September 11, 2019
#facts https://t.co/Ek5LuPcWs6
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) September 11, 2019
This really could have been a good opportunity for Bryant to extol the virtues of competitiveness in youth sports. Who could possibly be more equipped to discuss that principle and its benefits than him?
Instead, Kobe Bryant created a controversy where one never should have existed in the first place.
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