Kobe Bryant Talks Trayvon Martin, Says He Won’t Jump To Your Defense Just Because You’re Black

Kobe Bryant’s shocking comments about race and Trayvon Martin may have lost him a bunch of respect from the public. 

During the April 4th issue of The New Yorker Bryant had some interesting thoughts on the events surrounding the Trayvon Martin case, a case that is still very fresh in the hearts of many. In the interview not only did he give his opinion, he also criticizes Lebron James & the Miami Heat team for their now infamous photograph wearing hoodies. 

“I won’t react to something just because I’m supposed to, because I’m an African-American,” he said. “That argument doesn’t make any sense to me. So we want to advance as a society and a culture, but, say, if something happens to an African-American we immediately come to his defense? Yet you want to talk about how far we’ve progressed as a society? Well, we’ve progressed as a society, then don’t jump to somebody’s defense just because they’re African-American. You sit and you listen to the facts just like you would in any other situation, right? So I won’t assert myself.”

On one hand, I totally agree that you shouldn’t be quick to defend someone simply based off their race I think Kobe doesn’t realize many were quick to defend him based off the fact that he was a stellar basketball player. Had he been a terrible athlete do you think his dealings with that young white girl would have been swept away so quickly? Not hardly. I believe where Kobe messed up is what he thought people were defending Trayvon for. Were we defending him because he was a black kid gunned down by a non-black man? No. We, and thousands of people across the nation of all different races, defended him because he was killed wrongfully. If Kobe was going to speak on the subject, he should have separated the two examples. Otherwise he’s saying we only rocked with Trayvon because he was a little black kid. It wasn’t about black and white. It was about what was right and who was wrong. Several supporters of Trayvon’s movement were NOT black. Now, was Trayvon followed and executed because he was black? Absolutely. But is that why we stood behind him? No. We stood behind him because justice needed to be served. 

Fact is, Kobe has been silver-spooned all his life and I’m sure, as a kid who went straight from high school to the NBA, he hasn’t had to deal with enough racism to determine whether or not society has indeed progressed. His star status alone has sheltered him from what other black athletes would have to deal with, both in life and in the media. Kobe is a black man with white privilege and is embracing it, and rightfully so. I know I would too. But in that case, certain things should be off limits for him to talk about — including African American affairs. 

Kobe did take to his Twitter to defend himself though, “Travon Martin was wronged THATS my opinion and thats what I believe the FACTS showed. The system did not work #myopinion” … I stopped reading when he spelled TRAYVON wrong.  

Kobe and the Lakers are having a terrible few years and Kobe, as he remains on the injury list, is slowly dwindling as a fan favorite. It may be time to hang it up and retire like he intended to do years ago. At least leave on a high note.