Lockdown Reviews: Showboat The Life of Kobe Bryant

Like much of the United States and possibly the world I am on lockdown because of COVID – 19. I have two jobs and both have shut down for the last five weeks due to government orders to prevent the spread of the plague. This has given me a lot of time to catch up on reading. I checked out the biography Showboat: The Life of Kobe Bryant shortly after the NBA star died and I didn’t get around to beginning the book until the quarantine in March.

I am an NBA fan but Kobe was never my guy. He didn’t play for my team which is the Detroit Pistons. I have chanted BEAT LA in my living room many, many times. Most of that energy was directed towards Kobe. When Kobe died on January 26 I was shocked and saddened. Even though I’ve never been a Kobe fan I respect his success and I appreciate what he did for the game for twenty years.

This biography is very well written, well researched and detail oriented. This book is essentially an NBA history that focused on the late 90s to the mid 2010s. There are accounts of injuries, trades, games and series. The book is a little less than six hundred pages so it is a long and at times dry read.

I enjoy NBA but the minutiae of this book was a bit much for me. I was disappointed that the author only devoted a paragraph or two to the 2004 Laker loss to the Detroit Pistons. I was looking forward to reliving that in print but the author glossed over that glorious event. But overall I enjoyed the book because it cleared up some of the folklore surrounding Kobe’s relationship with Vanessa, his mother and father and Shaquille O’Neal. And yes, the rape trial was discussed.

This book reinforced all of my previous notions about Kobe Bryant. He was an aloof man and fierce competitor. Kobe Bryant was not a nice guy. He didn’t really get along with anyone once he became a star. But that wasn’t important to him. Winning was. He was meticulous in everything he did and was a diligent worker. Kobe had no patience for people around him that didn’t live up to his standards and people were easily discarded.

Kobe also didn’t like to share the spotlight with others. He didn’t want to share the spotlight with Shaquille O’Neal or Phil Jackson. LA wasn’t big enough for all of them. He never wanted it to be said that he needed them in order to be successful. Kobe was a lot like a 1980s night time soap opera villain that was motivated by a single goal and he didn’t let anything get in his way. Even though Kobe wasn’t warm and fuzzy I did like him more after reading this book. I respect the man’s drive and passion.

I also disliked him more after reading this book. By all accounts Kobe was a prick and so is his wife. He stabbed Shaquille O’Neal in the back more than once. He threw his coach Phil Jackson under the bus. He turned his back on his parents and siblings and cut them off financially before marrying his wife Vanessa and buying a beautiful new home for her mother who was in financial straits before her daughter married the NBA star. No one really seemed to get along with Kobe. As an NBA fan I kind of already knew that.

I did learn some new details about Kobe’s life but there wasn’t a lot of new information for me in this book. It’s fun to relive some of the NBA history that was written about in this book. I enjoyed the dirt that the book shared on Kobe’s personal entanglements. The author did a good job of giving us a backstage look at NBA life. I would recommend the book if you’re an NBA fan. You will enjoy it and it might make up for the NBA Playoffs being postponed.

The Feminist Nonsense Continues: Lizzo at the Lakers Game

I’m not even sure where to start with this. In case you haven’t heard I’ll recap the insanity. Pop star Lizzo went to a Lakers game in a loose T shirt dress with a cut out at the behind which exposed her bare cheeks and black thong. During the game Lizzo was put on the jumbotron and she did a little dance. It was cute but then she turned around so the camera can get a look at her bare butt cheeks and thong while she continued to dance.

I was appalled by it but there’s a lot of shocking things going on in the world today. I was prepared to file this away and move forward. But then Lizzo and her dress with the butt cut out became a trending topic and Lizzo went on a rant on IG. And here is where the problem starts for me. Lizzo is quoted as saying “if you don’t like my a$$ you can kiss it”. We weren’t thinking about her a$$ until she showed it to us.

The so called #bodypositive rant is what made this incident a feminist and “woke” talking point on You Tube this week. Lizzo is a #bodypositivity ambassador and the body positivity movement rubs me the wrong way. I’ve seen #bodypositivity posts all over Instagram and they come across as a manipulative scam.

#bodypositivity is a way to get women out of their clothes. #bodyposi convinces women that they have to take off their clothes in order to prove that they love their bodies and are confident women. The #bodyposi community believes that bearing it all is a way to conquer insecurities.

The #bodypositivity movement really has very little to do with confidence and being happy with yourself. It has more to do with seeking attention and validation. I have more respect for #thirsttrapthursday posts. At least they are completely honest in their intentions and they aren’t fake woke.

The #bodypositivity and modern feminist movement is telling women that they should seek to be lusted after. Modern feminism and #bodypositivity are not seeking to have women valued as a human beings and individuals. The focus on a woman’s body and not anything else she can offer the world.

Lizzo is beautiful, talented, energetic and charismatic. I wouldn’t have noticed that she is heavy without her pointing it out. Her size and feminist activism is part of her brand despite the fact that she is a well trained classical flutist and rapper (what a combination) with a great stage presence. Lizzo has a great deal to offer the world but instead she chooses to focus on a$$.

She is selling herself short and the image that she puts out of herself is cartoonish. I feel like she is living up to stereotypes about larger women, particularly large Black women. Lizzo claims to be standing up for women that don’t have slim bodies but she presents full figure in unflattering ways when it would be very easy for her to project a stylish image. She has the goods and resources to do so.

I’m curious about what Lizzo was expecting when she turned her bare backside to the jumbotron camera. Was she expecting a round of applause? She received criticism from showing her thonged behind in public (shocker) and then she went into victim mode and told everyone that they were criticizing her because she is big and Black. She didn’t take into consideration that her actions would be seen as uncouth to some if not most people.

But Lizzo isn’t the biggest problem. The biggest problem are the social media feminists. They say that the world was trying to police her body because she is a Black with a lot of meat. She could have worn almost anything without criticism but she chose something that she knew would be controversial. Those of us that find her taste and behavior to be questionable are now being made out to be bigots and chauvinists. This is emotional blackmail.

It’s not our job to validate every person when they do things for shock value or out of desperation. And we don’t have to give positive reinforcement to Hollyweird and rich n word culture. This Lizzo situation is almost a real life version of The Emperor’s New Clothes.

Lizzo could do a lot to represent full figured women by just being the talented and beautiful woman that she is but she’s wasting this opportunity with her shenanigans. I do not think that the activism that she is becoming known for will sustain her career as a musician. If no one’s told Lizzo this, you’re pretty and talented. You don’t need to pull childish pranks.

Hot Girl Summer: “Darkness to Light”

Summer 2019 is behind us and you know what, I didn’t do a darn thing. I didn’t visit one beach, pool or amusement park this year. My “Hot Girl Summer” consisted of going to work, going to church going to brunch a few times. All of my adventures and drama came from reading. That’s a good and bad thing at the same time. Ice could have been covering the ground and it would not have made much of a difference to me. I’m going to share and review what I read this summer.

My first review is “Darkness to Light” by Lamar Odom.

lamar odom

This was a good read. I think you’ll enjoy it if you’re an NBA fan or a person that enjoys celebrity gossip. I enjoy both. This story is about the life of NBA champion Lamar Odom. The book begins with the Lamar’s parents’ star crossed love story. Then we learn about his experiences as a basketball phenom. He wrote about his college days and his early years in the NBA. That lead into his prime years in LA, his marriage into a reality TV family, his decline and then the day he ODed in a whorehouse in Nevada and near death experience.

Lamar is mild mannered and non assuming. In interviews he came across as having a passive personality. I felt like he was being bullied by some of the female entertainment journalists that interviewed him while he was promoting this book. But man, Lamar has had a wild, glamorous and fabulous life. The man has been to parties where Prince and Whitney Houston were in attendance. He’s been to Hollywood movie premiers and he’s been in an NBA champion victory parade, twice.

This book made a few impressions on me. First of all, Lamar Odom is a lucky duck. He was a drug abuser for years and dodged punishment for his habit. He was a high functioning drug addict who didn’t suffer repercussions professionally and managed to have a wildly successful career.

lamar odom

His personal relationships were what paid the price for his addictions. He lost the relationship he had with his high school sweetheart and mother of his two children. His relationship with Taraji Henson was destroyed. And he famously divorced Khloe Kardashian. Lamar suffered the loss of his mother to cancer while he was a young boy and he continues to struggle with her death. But drug and sex is what ruined his romances and marriage.

khloe and lamar

Secondly, this book taught me that pro athletes are basically raised by recruiters and coaches. The influence and place that these men have in the lives of young athletes is significant. As a sports fan there are certain things that make sense to me now as an observer. (I’ll keep those things to myself) Coaches and recruiters play a father like role to up and coming young men. In Lamar’s story they looked out for his interests but they also viewed him as a product to be protected so their motivations were not purely altruistic.

I also learned that Kris Jenner is a huge B word. This woman is willing sell her own children out for fame and a payday. That Kardashian/Jenners are opportunistic and take their family business very seriously. The business is more important than the family. Perhaps you all already figured that out but I am a little slow and naïve. I’ve honestly always admired Kris Jenner but I’m sure a lot of people admire Judas for a while too. I won’t go into detail because I don’t want to spoil things for you.

phil jackson

NBA fans will get a kick out of Lamar’s behind the scenes stories. He drops names throughout this book quite a bit. Of course he mentions Kobe. He grew up with Ron Artest aka Metta World Peace. He had a terrible relationship with Mark Cuban while he was in Dallas and Phil Jackson was a hero to him. I wish the booked focused on his NBA career more.

If you are interested in NBA, Hollywood glamour, the Kardashians, overcoming addictions or near death experiences. You might enjoy “Darkness to Light”. There’s something in it for just about everyone. I certainly enjoyed the book.