My Speech at the Unveiling of the Kobe Bryant Statue & Tucker Carlson Is Putin's New PR Flak
Why Some Gen Z Males Reject Feminism, Alarming New Study Shows Risks of Brain Damage in H.S. Football, Bachelor Franchise Silent About Racial Accusations, Jazz Phenom Joey Alexander Performs “Blue”
What I’m Discussing Today:
Kareem’s Daily Quote: Here’s the speech I gave at the unveiling of the Kobe Bryant statue. It was a heartfelt day for all of us.
‘Talkshow or a serious conversation?’ Tucker Carlson’s interview of Putin offered neither: Useful idiot Carlson wants you to snuggle in with Uncle Putin as he reads you a bedtime fairytale about heroic Russia’s invasion of a democracy.
Gen Z boys and men more likely than baby boomers to believe feminism is harmful, says poll: Why are young men so afraid of feminism?
‘Bachelor’ Producers Freeze When Asked About Franchise Diversity Woes: The popular franchise has been criticized by two of its Black contestants for racial insensitivity. When questioned, their response was insulting.
'Scare Tactic Much?': Critics Pounce On Trump Over Bonkers Pennsylvania Claim: This isn’t about Trump, but about certain news media platforms that manufacture a “news” story that is misleading. Label it as an editorial or don’t do it at all.
UPDATE: Football Can Damage the Brains of High-School Players: A new study shows alarming possible damage to the brains of high school football players. Is it worth the risk?
Kareem’s Video Break: This example of interspecies caring gives me hope for same-species compassion. It’s touching and funny.
Joey Alexander Performs “Blue”: Jazz phenom Alexander has made seven albums since he was 10. Here’s why at 20 he’s still wowing the jazz world.
Kareem’s Daily Quote
Today’s Daily Quote is from me. Last Thursday, I gave a speech at the unveiling of the Kobe Bryant statue at the Crypto.com Arena. I thought you might enjoy reading it.
The first known statue was made 35,000 years ago—which was just around the time I hit puberty. Not much has changed since then. People still have a deep need to pay homage to those among us who represent the best versions of humanity. This statue may look like Kobe, but really it’s what excellence looks like, what discipline looks like, what commitment looks like. What love of family looks like. The fact that all those qualities come in the form of an exceptionally handsome man is just a bonus.
Coach Wooden used to frequently quote Benjamin Franklin’s line, “By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail.” When I was on the Laker’s coaching staff, I had the opportunity to watch Kobe practice. I had never seen a player prepare with such focus and determination. It is one thing to want to excel, it’s another to drive yourself to acquire the necessary tools to excel. Kobe’s relentless determination made his teammates push themselves, too. He made everyone around him a better player.
Kobe once said something that has stuck with me ever since. He said, “I see the beauty in getting up in the morning and being in pain because I know all the hard work that it took to get to this point.” He was referring to the physical pain that all professional athletes learn to live with in pursuit of excellence. But his statement is even more profound than that, because we all arise from bed each day with some pain—the pain of lost loved ones, the pain of lost dreams, the pain of aging out of relevance. Yet, we endure that daily pain because it is the worthwhile cost of the daily joys and delights we experience in loving, in dreaming, and in growing older among family and friends.
I like to think of athletes as artists. Like the painter or poet, the athlete offers a temporary distraction from the struggles of life as well as keen insights into that struggle that help lessen the weight we all carry. We battered our hands in amazement as we watched Kobe defy the laws of gravity and movement as he leapt, dodged, and pirouetted from one end of the court to the other. He was a defender’s worst nightmare. That was entertainment. We learned from him that the limits of what is physically possible can be expanded—given enough effort, given enough heart. That was insight. That was Kobe.
A statue is a wonderful contradiction: It captures a person frozen in time while at the same time acknowledges that the reason there’s a statue in the first place is because that person is timeless. We’re all here today to honor a man who represents not just extraordinary sports achievements, but also timeless values that inspire us all to try harder to be, not just better, but our best.
Thank you, Kobe.