Calling Out Kobe Bryant

Do you want to win your first MVP, Kobe? Of course you do. Championship, Finals MVP, regular season MVP. That’s your mindset. And you want it all now. Do that and you’ll force your critics to shut up, stand up, and ‘fess up to you as the greatest baller on the planet today.

But in order for all that to happen, you need to shut up and step up first. Enough is enough, Kobe. We get it already. Nobody in the league today matches your competitiveness, your will to win, your ‘I want to be the best’ inner drive. But you’re going about it all wrong by showing up the referees.

You played with Shaquille O’Neal for eight years, witnessing firsthand that star players actually don’t get all the calls. No one in the history of basketball was involved in more physical contact without a whistle than Shaq. The refs could have called a foul on almost every possession, but Shaq rolled with the punches. Oh by the way, he also won multiple championships as The Man, 3 Finals MVPs and a regular season MVP. Fuel for the fire. (You’re welcome.)

This year, you are arguably the NBA’s MVP. Arguably. But your role in the Lakers most recent loss, an unthinkable 108-95 clunker at home against the Bobcats, defies MVP logic. The glaring number on your 27 point, 6 rebound, 3 assist stat line is 2 as in the two quick technical fouls (his 14th and 15th for the season) that got you ejected during the fourth quarter of what was a bad loss, plain and simple.

One more tech in the Lakers’ final 10 games would earn you an automatic one game suspension. At your current rate of one technical foul every 5.5 games, it’s not that much of a stretch to think you could cost the Lakers home court advantage in the playoffs by missing a crucial game down the stretch. In a Western Conference race where you’re nearly as close to the top of the standings as you are close to the lottery, one game means more than ever. You, more than anyone, should know that and honor it.

Few can get to the basket at will the way you do, Kobe. Fewer still can finish the way you can with the left or right hand, off the glass softly or with authority over a would-be shot-blocker. So why do you insist on doing that screaming/moaning/grunting routine every time you drive to the basket? It’s not professional. It’s not believable. And it’s not acceptable from the game’s best player.

Just make the play and play on. If you get fouled, the refs will probably call it. If not, they won’t. Every once in awhile they’ll make a mistake. Either score despite the contact or make up for it on the defensive end. But you have to put a stop to your verbal flopping. No one likes a whiner. And let’s face it, Kobe, you have no reason to complain. Not this year.

The basketball gods have smiled upon you. Bynum’s blossomed. Farmar’s flourished. Sasha’s shimmered. And they gave you Gasol for crying out loud. They handed you your perfect pick-and-roll compliment, a missing piece to the Lakers championship puzzle and you didn’t lose anyone to note besides “Mr. Addition by Subtraction” Kwame Brown.

There are just 10 games left in the season. It’s winning time. The schedule is such that you don’t have to leave the Pacific Time Zone for the rest of the season. Heck, you only have one game left outside the state of California. Losing to Charlotte was a serious slip-up. Still, you should lead the Lakers to the top seed in the West regardless of injuries. That’s what an MVP would do.

No excuses. No more whining. No more technicals. Just win, Kobe.