Kobe Bryant has always put himself out there with some rather interesting, sometimes philosophical, takes on the human condition.
We may not agree with the Los Angeles Lakers guard all the time, but at least his deep-thinking ways delve further into his thought process as a basketball player.
Speaking with ESPN’s Jemele Hill at the BET Awards on Saturday night, Bryant dropped the perfect Kobeism:
Kobe is asked about not being a great friend all the time.
His response: "Friends come and go but banners hang forever."
— Baxter Holmes (@Baxter) June 28, 2015
“Friends come and go but banners hang forever.”
That’s one cynical way to look at friendships, the best of which do last a lifetime. However, anyone who knows anything about Kobe, understands just how much he struggles with the friendship aspect of life.
“Well, yes and no. I have friends. But being a great friend is something I will never be. I can be a good friend. But not a great friend,” Bryant once said about friendship (h/t CBS Sports). “A great friend will call you every day and remember your birthday. I’ll get so wrapped up in my shit, I’ll never remember that stuff.”
It’s the complexity that comes with being a famous person in one of the most self-evolved regions in the world, Los Angeles.
In no way does this mean that Bryant doesn’t struggle with the idea of not having many close friends.
“It’s not like I’m saying, ‘I don’t need friends because I’m so strong.’ It’s a weakness. When I was growing up in Italy, I grew up in isolation,” Bryant said. “It was not an environment suited to me.”
Why is this important?
It just goes to show us the thought process of one of the most interesting athletes on the planet. Kobe surely isn’t immune to making fun of himself, and his comments at the BET Awards Saturday night were a prime example of this. They are also a prime example of how he struggles with his personal life in the face of tremendous popularity.
He’s probably not alone in this regard. Instead, Bryant just seems to open up more than other professional athletes out there. And that’s pretty refreshing.
Now, someone that this dude a BFF.
Photo: USA Today Sports