Kobe Bryant, NBA superstar and recent master of the social media arts, did a pretty cool thing this weekend.
His Lakers played their first playoff game of the season on Sunday, against the San Antonio Spurs. Bryant couldn't play -- he's recovering from a ruptured achilles that will have him sidelined until at least the beginning of next season.
But the injured future Hall of Famer gave fans the next-best treat after watching him on the court. How? by live-tweeting his thoughts and reactions about the game.
For sports fans, that's a pretty good deal. Live, unfiltered commentary from one of the NBA's all-time greats about two teams he knows well. Here's a taste from Sunday:
Gotta keep the spurs offense in front of our d. They r great at penetrating and pitching to their shooters— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) April 21, 2013
What I would say if I was there right now? "Pau get ur ass on the block and don't move till u get it" #realtalk— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) April 21, 2013
Nothing worse then watching your bothers struggle and u can't do crap about it #realtalk— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) April 21, 2013
Predictably, Bryant's tweeting gained a lot of attention online. Some lauded it as being a new, innovative use of Twitter for an active player. Others criticized it as attention-whoring. Still others criticized Bryant's critiques of his teammates. But most everyone who noticed had something to say, good or bad.
For Bryant, the attention seems to have been too much. Here's a message he posted on Sunday afternoon, a couple hours after the game ended:
I see my tweeting during the game is being talked about as much as the game itself. Not my intention , just bored as I guess #notagain— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) April 21, 2013
He followed that up with this slightly cryptic Monday tweet:
To tweet or not to tweet.. I CHOOSE not 2. Focus should be on the team not my insight. @georgelopez voice "Can't DO nothin!"#vinospeare— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) April 22, 2013
Not quite sure what all that means, but it's safe to assume we won't see Bryant live-tweeting any more Lakers games soon.
Do you think Bryant's tweets on Sunday were cool, or an unnecessary distraction for his teammates? Let us know in the comments.
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