The kinder, gentler version of Kobe Bryant that has manifested itself during his final NBA season has even extended to referees.
The notoriously volatile Bryant hasn’t picked up a single technical foul during the season, much to the surprise of just about everyone. What’s changed? What happened?
“What am I going to get a tech for?” Bryant said Sunday, via Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. “We’re not making the playoffs. What is there to be pissed about exactly?”
Bryant clarified that he hasn’t softened. He’s merely evolved.
“I’m still an a–hole,” Bryant said. “It doesn’t change. It just evolves.”
Coach Byron Scott simply feels that Bryant has found peace as he approaches his final game.
“Once he announced this was it, he’s been different,” Scott said. “He’s been more at peace.”
Moments like this one are apparently in Bryant’s past. Perhaps that’s for the best. We don’t need Kobe being ejected or anything silly like that with so many people flocking to see his final games.
