The Public Humiliation of Chris Paul

I think there's also something about the anti-Kobe talk that gets missed. The reason why he's scrutinized as well is because he, out of the other three there, is labeled as a scorer, a selfish player, nothing close to a facilitator. Wade, Paul and James have their own stereotype of being the be all end all, but with more than 5 assists per game THAT PEOPLE NOTICE. Kobe's gotten better at it, to the point where now if he gets 3 assists in a quarter, he's the best passer in the world, but it's that perception that also gets in the way.

Just offering an angle that steps away from the media side.

WildYams said it best, as for why Kobe gets the treatment he does. I think everyone has incredibly high expectations for Kobe because Kobe does himself. He's never pretended to be anything less than the greatest player in the game, and as a young player he said "Why would you ever play if you don’t want to be the best player who ever lived?" So we hold him to that. He has set the bar the highest out of any player, so he has the furthest to fall.

Chris Paul won't fall that far after one game, but I will be very interested to see how fans and the media perceive his exit from this playoffs (assuming it happens soon).

"Smush Parker never let his team lose by 58 points in the first round". See how ridiculous that sounds? Yet some don't hesitate to say "MJ would never have let his team lose a 20 point lead in a playoff game".

Because Bryant's public persona rubs me the wrong way. I'm aware that's a personal issue and it's got nothing to do with how he performs on the floor, but there it is. I have a problem with a man who'll bring his toddler daughters to the table at a press conference, when they both look like they'd rather be anywhere else. It smacks of someone who's willing to use his family as stage props. I don't like it when actors and politicians do it, I don't like it when athletes do it.

And as to other superstars not getting crisped as badly when they screw up on the public stage, I beg to differ. I'm a Mavs fan.
-BJ

Chris Paul and the Hornets getting blown out probably meant more to Jazz fans than the the Lakers putting them out. Somewhere, Bill Simmons and John Hollinger are filtering thousands of angry emails.

You're asking why Kobe was so negatively scrutinized when his teams have come up short, but how come Wade, LeBron and CP3 don't get the same treatment? Is that a rhetorical question? Come on, the answer is obvious: It's because there are so many people out there that have an axe to grind with Kobe that they are literally waiting with baited breath for any and every failure of his so they can pounce on him and rip him apart. He's arguably the most polarizing figure in sports, and little of that has to do with how he actually performs in the games. Whether it's because he was wearing his shades atop his head at his HS press conference when he declared for the draft, whether it was his supposed engineering of the trade to the Lakers, whether it was because he waved off Karl Malone in the All Star game, whether it was because of his feud with Shaq, whether it was because of the (ultimately dropped) accusation of sexual assault, or whether it was all of the above and more, the simple fact is that he's without question the most hated player in the NBA. But like I said, he's also the most polarizing, so he may at the same time be the most loved person in the NBA as well; but you essentially have people who feel incredibly strongly about the guy, whether good or bad, with few if any who are lukewarm one way or the other about him.

So that's why Kobe is stuck on a spit and roasted over an open fire every time he has some supposed failure of some kind, and that's why the scrutiny isn't anywhere near as harsh for any of those other players. It's simple: people don't care about those other players as much as they do Kobe. They might think that those players are all better than Kobe, but they ultimately don't have as much invested in rooting for them to succeed or fail as they do with Kobe. Those players just don't have all the hype surrounding them that Kobe does. Really I don't think any player in the NBA since Jordan has inspired the kind of emotion that Kobe does (though Jordan's was far more positive, of course).

I think Kobe is treated the way he is because of several factors. His attitude (or percievede attitude) has a lot to do with it. When he was teammed with Shaq, I think he got the short end of the stick though. Shaq was the loveable clown, so when the two fueded it must have been Kobe's fault. I'm not saying Kobe didn't fuel this a little bit himself with his attitude, but I think Shaq's role with the media helped shape things early. Also I think Kobe knew what kind of work he was putting in, and how good he was going to be very early on in his career, and this showed in the way he acted to the media and fans. To some extent he was resented by a lot of folks for having this attitude of being the best before he was the best. Fianlly I think he is resented in a way the other stars aren't because of the fact that he in the League briefly when Jordan was still in his prime. He was absolutly fearless against Jordan in the 98 All Star Game, and was out on the floor acting like MJ before his game had reached that status. I think he came to be resented for this because of the reverence people had for MJ. He seemed to be just a shallow copy of Jordan at the time. THis early resentment has carried over to some extent I think. Lebron, CP3 and Wade didn't have these problems becuase of when they were fortunate enough to come into the league (no more Jordan to be compared to), and because they didn't have the bad luck of feuding with other teamates early in their careers.

For your information, there are lots of people that praise what Kobe did with his D-League team of 05, 06, and 07. Did Kobe ever get out of the first round with the scrubs? No he didn't. But he might have gotten further if he was in the Leastern conference and playing the likes of the Washington Wizards. Did Kobe ever get blown out by 58 points on his homecourt? No. Did Kobe have another all-star on his team? No.

You can draw all these comparisons and make arguments every which way but what it boils down to is this: on a national scale Kobe Bryant is the most heavily villified and scrutinized player of the decade.

First, what is it exactly that you're criticizing Paul for? There is no mention mention whatsoever of what he did wrong. What should he have done differently?

Secondly, Kobe isn't given a flyer because he's been crowned the best player in the world and the heir to Jordan by sports pundits. Add to that the fact that he's a huge prick and dislikes everyone, well there's your answer.

what do you think of the treatment of one of the only other players on the same level so far, Dwayne Wade? I haven't followed it that closely, so I'm curious. Good article.

Very astute assesment of the hornets roster and the nature of criticising the finest players' leadership qualities. Something about placing any blame on chris Paul for this loss just feels wrong. What is it? I think its the baby face. It just doesn't say, "ski resort date rapist" to me. The dude looks like he's 12. It's tough to hold a twelve year old accountable for a blugeoning like that. It's much easier to blame chauncy or the refs or Byron Scott.