Since Kobe Bryant retired, he’s insisted that he doesn’t miss playing basketball, which has been hard for some to believe given he was arguably the most obsessive, competitive player in the league during his career.
Instead, Bryant has focused that energy into his media company, earning himself an Oscar in the process, and other off-court ventures. When ESPN launched its premium streaming service ESPN+, Bryant came on board with a new show called Detail that allowed him to get back into the basketball world by breaking down film of a certain player or players each episode.
In the playoffs, the subjects of Bryant’s breakdowns have not fared well in their next game, leading some in NBA Twitter to determine that there is a Detail curse in the same vein of the Madden curse, in which the subject of each episode is doomed to lose their next game. Most have found it humorous and said it jokingly, but it’s gained enough momentum that it’s gotten under the skin of Bryant who isn’t pleased his show is associated with a curse.
#growup https://t.co/6kVVV7bzSa
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) May 31, 2018
Bryant spoke with Benjamin Hoffman of the New York Times recently and further ripped into the idea that there’s some kind of curse being put on players by his show.
“I think simple-minded people tend to give simple-minded answers. The Detail Curse thing about getting into players’ heads too much is about simple-minded people who don’t understand what film study is. When you’re a player you watch film to find advantages, so you look for little areas in which you can take advantage of teams. Some of these fans that say that stuff are just idiots.”
In one way, I get it. Bryant doesn’t want players to buy in on this idea and not be grateful to get his wisdom when it comes to a film breakdown of their game, but in the same breath, it’s kind of silly that he’s taking a joke on Twitter and getting upset about it.
