Kobe Bryant has spent the past couple years coaching his daughter’s AAU team, which has given him the opportunity to see that same group develop as basketball players.
After the Mambas travel basketball team won a weekend tournament game by the score of 115-27 (!!!), Kobe wanted to express just how proud he was of his team and how he was enjoying the journey of coaching.
Just in doing so, he revealed to 10.2 million Instagram followers that he’s been holding a two-year grudge against one of his players for choosing a dance recital over a basketball game.
This post was supposed to be motivational …
Kobe wrote:
Here’s our fourth place “winners” picture lol six of the kids in the picture stayed with me and worked every single day to get better and continue to work to this day. The 7th player (not in pic) missed this game for a dance recital so that should tell you where her focus was at this time, meaning she enjoyed dance more than ball which is fine. Now? She eat sleeps and breaths the game. So from this original group of 7 we have added a player TWO years YOUNGER (6th grade now), a player who’s team in our area folded and a player who’s family moved here from Tennessee. The beauty of coaching is growing the players from the ground up. That journey continues #mambas
This is the team now … Notice the score:
But yeah, Kobe could have just stopped at the dance recital, yet he went as far as to question a then-fifth grader’s focus. Again, the intention was clearly to be positive and motivational.
Update: Kobe responded to the backlash and insisted that his comment wasn’t a slight against the player.
(Initial story continues below)
But I’m not sure the message landed the way that Kobe thought it would.
