Kobe Says He Would Have Knelt During the Anthem--But There are Skeptics

Photo Credit: Keith Allison, Flickr

Article below by Carron J. Philips at NYDailynews.com. Kobe Bryant has weighed in on the  anthem controversy asserting that had would have participated had he been in the NBA while protests were taking place. I have to agree with Philips that this is not likely, but my assessment is based upon Kobe’s previous unsupportive comments regarding the unlawful killings of Blacks surrounding the Trayvon Martin case. To have implied that Black people protest and object to unlawful killings of Black people without any analysis or basis other than race was insulting and smacked of respectability politics. So while I welcome the notion that Kobe Bean Bryant would have taken such a powerful and strong stance in support of challenging racism, I remain skeptical. 

Kobe Bryant is trying to sell us a dream, but I’m not buying it.

In a recent piece as part of The Undefeated’s “Dear Black Athlete” special, Bryant sat down with Jemele Hill for an in-depth interview about a variety of topics. One of them was Bryant’s thoughts on Colin Kaepernick’s protest during the national anthem, and why he claims he would kneel if he were still playing.

Read the rest at NYDailynews.com.