Kobe Bryant has been all over the airwaves this week, thanks to a recent sit-down with Valuetainment, during which he managed to (briefly) resurrect his eternal blood feud with arch-nemesis Shaquille O’Neal. Kobe once again trotted out his old complaint about Shaq’s general malaise when it came to physical fitness, which of course prompted the big fella to fire back with a missive of his own about Kobe’s ball-hoggery.
They were quick to quash the beef, however, each taking to social media where Shaq couldn’t help but take a swipe at another favorite target of his, newly-signed Laker retread Dwight Howard. But apparently there was a lot more from that interview that’s been waiting to be wrung out.
Kobe’s work ethic and competitive myopia have taken on mythical proportions, with plenty of fuel from Kobe himself, who rarely misses an opportunity to remind us that he was simply on a different level in terms of his devotion to his craft or his insatiable need to assert his alpha-dog status against his peers.
At one point, he’s asked to comment on today’s load management movement, with predictable results.
Kobe on load management:
“It’s crazy. You got a lot of people paying their hard earned money to come watch you perform. It’s your job to be in shape & be able to perform at that level every night. As a competitor, I’m not ducking s**t.”@ValuetainmentTV
https://t.co/JBVFO6DxzN— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) August 30, 2019
Kobe used the example of an early 2000s game against the Toronto Raptors when Vince Carter was taking the league by storm and how he battled through back spasms so he wouldn’t have to miss the head-to-head matchup.
Knowing what we know now about sports science and medicine, there’s really no viable debate left. The research and data shows that load management prolongs careers and prevents injury, but good luck convincing some of these old school cats.
