The struggle just isn’t real enough for Kobe Bryant.
According to some reporters, Kobe hasn’t lived a hard enough life to justify wearing a “I Can’t Breathe” t-shirt to support Eric Garner and those protesting his death.
CBS Sports Doug Gottlieb and sports radio host John Middlekauff took turns Tuesday dissing Bryant for taking a stance on what has become a national issue.
First up was Gottlieb’s tweet, captured in its glory by Deadspin:
Not to be outdone, Middlekauff claimed Kobe didn’t grow up in the “mean streets” like fellow t-shirt wearers LeBron James and Derrick Rose. So no respect for the Black Mamba:
And then came the obligatory “My bad, I was just joking apologies:
Apologize for an earlier tweet, I chose my words poorly. Didn't come across what I meant. Major failure on my part
— John Middlekauff (@JohnMiddlekauff) December 10, 2014
wrong topic to joke about.. my bad
— Doug Gottlieb (@GottliebShow) December 10, 2014
It took ESPN.com writer J.A. Adande just one tweet to appropriately skewer Middlekauff’s Kobe theory:
@JohnMiddlekauff You know what Kobe has in common with Garner? He's human
— J.A. Adande (@jadande) December 10, 2014
Not that he should have to, but Bryant took some time Tuesday night to explain the reason the entire Lakers team wore the t-shirts:
[youtubevid video=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=eTeRxu2r2uQ” id=”eTeRxu2r2uQ” w=”640″ h=”360″]