Bryant V. Nash

My boyfriend thinks Kobe Bryant walks on water--on the basketball court at least. I can never see past who Kobe is off the basketball court, and I'm not always impressed by his ball-hog game playing either. John Baker lays it out in this article about Bryant's "tantrum" after the Lakers were eliminated from the play-offs, as well as his general non-team oriented playing style that I find annoying.

Last year, when the Lakers were playing the Suns, I found Steve Nash--he was kind of random and hyper and I truly enjoyed watching him play. I decided that he must be a far better person then Kobe Bryant.

Of course, I didn't have any real information on which to base this decision, but this year, when Kobe expressed his irritation at not making it to the finals again at the post-elimination-game press conference, I couldn't help but think that maybe it was karma. So I looked them up--Kobe and Nash....

From Wikipedia:

In May of 2006, Nash was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. In the accompanying write-up by Charles Barkley, Nash was lauded for his unselfishness on the basketball court, and being "just a nice guy" who had paid for a new pediatric cardiology ward in a Paraguayan hospital.

The rest of Barkley's article can be found here.

Kobe Bryant, well, we all know what he's famous for.

Then there's the Steve Nash Foundation, which as far as I can tell, has been doing lots of good things for kids since 2001.

Kobe Bryant's Foundation, founded in 1998, was dissolved in 2002 after his contributions to charity declined to $10,000 in 2001 and $0 in 2002. In 2006, he started the Vivo Foundation which sent 8 students to Italy for two weeks last summer....and that's about it. I'm not suggesting that what Kobe Bryant has done isn't good stuff, but given his financial situation and iconic status, it's not like it wouldn't be possible for him to keep up with Steve Nash.

For me, the icing on the cake was learning about Steve Nash's "No War. Shoot for Peace" t-shirt and his strong stance against the war in Iraq. From Dave Zirin's article on Nash's MVP award:

When questioned on his incendiary attire, Nash said, "I think that war is wrong in 99.9 per cent of all cases. I think (Operation Iraqi Freedom) has much more to do with oil or some sort of distraction, because I don't feel as though we should be worrying about Iraq." He also showed far more prescience than Bush, Cheney, Colin Powell or Condoleezza Rice saying, "I think that Saddam Hussein is a crazy dictator but I don't think he's threatening us at this point in time. We haven't found any nuclear weapons--no matter what anyone says--and that process is still under way. Until that's finished and decided I don't think that war is acceptable." He then reiterated his position that, "Unfortunately, this is more about oil than it is about nuclear weapons."

Nash also took issue with the pro-war media. Two years before the New York Times and the Washington Post were forced to issue apologies for their slavish, slothful pro-war coverage, Nash said, "I think a lot of what we hear in the news is misleading and flat-out false, so I think it's important for us to think deeper and find out what is really going on." He didn't backpedal from this stance despite criticism from his boss at the time, Mavs owner Mark Cuban and Spurs center David Robinson who said, "If it's an embarrassment to (Nash) maybe (he) should be in a different country." Nash also was profiled in one mainstream paper earlier this season where he casually mentioned that the last book he read was The Communist Manifesto. In a country where much of the media, and sports media, have been in a race to the right, Shaquille O'Neal would have been a more appealing choice.

Shaq's main dream after basketball is to become a cop. Already he has completed enough training to carry firearms and go on busts with local police. The Orange County Sheriff's Department in Orlando has even made O'Neal an honorary deputy. As OC spokesman Jim Solomons said, "He would definitely make an imposing officer, I'd love to see Shaq be the first through the door on a drug warrant." While news reports on O'Neal's ambitions are filled with cheeky references to his custom-fitted uniform and "size 22EEE boots," it's not a laughing matter to people on the other end of those shoes. In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Shaq was accused of excessive force, specifically holding a suspect's head in a toilet and punching him repeatedly. This led to an internal investigation.

It's possible that racism played a role for some voters in Nash's selection. But politics also plays a factor. The peace activist beat the cop. For the basketball media to honor a serious anti-war voice like Nash--and to have that player lead a style of play so invigorating is cause for celebration.

I know, this was supposed to be about Kobe, not Shaq, but since Kobe wished he'd taken a cue from Shaq and paid-off the woman he raped, I have to think they might share some morals in common.

My verdict on Nash V. Bryant: Steve Nash is a good human. I may live in LA, but for now, I'm a Suns fan.