Showboat: The Life of Kobe Bryant

 
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slavavov
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 28, 2017 8:12 pm    Post subject: Showboat: The Life of Kobe Bryant

Has anyone read this book by Roland Lazenby? He's been a really good journalist when it comes to the Lakers and the NBA, and he delved into several different angles of Kobe's life and career, including some side stuff having to do with his dad, the Philly sports scene, and even sneaker marketing.

I recently read this book, and I didn't know Kobe's personal and family issues in the early 2000s were that serious. It gave me a greater appreciation and respect for his mental fortitude and focus. I got the impression that him marrying Vanessa so young caused, at least indirectly, a lot of the other issues that he got into, especially off the court.
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ZenMaster4President
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 29, 2017 8:28 am    Post subject:

IIRC his parents didn't approve of him marrying that early, which led to all the bad blood there.

They certainly didn't help matters when they started pawning/selling off his memorabilia back in 2009 (or so)...
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 29, 2017 10:13 am    Post subject:

I thought it was a great read.

Also loved Shoe Dog. Highly recommended.
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 29, 2017 10:25 am    Post subject:

ZenMaster4President wrote:
IIRC his parents didn't approve of him marrying that early, which led to all the bad blood there.

They certainly didn't help matters when they started pawning/selling off his memorabilia back in 2009 (or so)...


It was around 2013/4 in 2009 and 2010 they were around for his playoff games.
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MorrissYe
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 30, 2017 3:49 am    Post subject:

Just reading about his family and personal issues make me feel exhausted. We really didn't appreciate how tough this man's mentality was.
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SwissLakerFan
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 30, 2017 2:31 pm    Post subject:

MorrissYe wrote:
Just reading about his family and personal issues make me feel exhausted. We really didn't appreciate how tough this man's mentality was.


I"m pretty sure he has no contact at all with his parents even today. That's sad. It doesn't even seem like he has any attachment to his family whatsoever. His family is his wife and girls.
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wutevahung
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PostPosted: Thu May 04, 2017 3:25 pm    Post subject:

ZenMaster4President wrote:
IIRC his parents didn't approve of him marrying that early, which led to all the bad blood there.

They certainly didn't help matters when they started pawning/selling off his memorabilia back in 2009 (or so)...


you are not wrong, but these are well known cases, not what the OP was talking about.

OP was talking about how the Bryant family was practically working and controlling Bryant's brand from around 1995-2000. Joe also asked Kobe to buy him a basketball team in Europe around 2000,, then ran in it into ground in like an year or half year. the club later declared bankrupt IIRC.

Also Kobe actually wanted to go to college, but his family was broke so he had to go to NBA or else he wouldn't get the endorsement from Adidas, which his dad also used to leverage a bonus.

Kobe's letter to his younger self on player tribune was mostly talking about these. He felt like he did not empower the people around him to grow, did not help them by putting them in the position to succeed, instead they started resenting Kobe when he asked those people to do something instead of just mooching off him.
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