Kobe Bryant can keep tweeting during Los Angeles Lakers games. Dwight Howard said so.
Following a Twitter binge during the Lakers’ loss to the San Antonio Spurs in Game 1, Bryant swore off in-game tweeting because it was becoming too much of a distraction. The media was making too big a deal about it during the game and Kobe didn’t want to become an unnecessary sideshow.
Game 2 came and went, and Kobe stayed true to his word. He didn’t tweet. And the Lakers still lost.
So many of us were outraged that Bryant ceased tweeting. It’s such a trivial matter, but 1) he was actually giving good advice and 2) it made watching the Lakers more entertaining. Just let the man tweet. Could it really be that much of a distraction?
Howard says no.
Dwight Howard on Kobe Bryant’s tweets in Game 1: “We didn’ see his tweets during the game. If he wants to tweet he can go ahead and tweet.”
— Dwain Price (@DwainPrice) April 24, 2013
This really isn’t some unprecedented revelation. Have you ever seen an NBA player checking his Twitter timeline while on the bench, during team huddles or right before he he shoots his free throws? Of course not. Kobe’s tweeting may have been a distraction for analysts and fans, but his teammates had no idea what he was saying.
And Howard reiterated just this.
“We don’t look at our Twitter during the game. If he wants to tweet, he can tweet. It’s his Twitter — Dwight Howard on Kobe Bryant tweeting
— Dwain Price (@DwainPrice) April 24, 2013
You can basically detect the frustration in his voice, and I don’t blame him. This is stupid. It’s a non-issue. We shouldn’t be debating it. Why am I even writing about this?
Because it became an issue. In a world where everything is scrutinized to no end, Kobe’s tweeting became an issue. Not for the Lakers, or the NBA in general, but everyone else. That Kobe was tweeting during games was huge because well, he’s Kobe. Everything he does is huge.
This particular “incident” was blown out of proportion more than normal, though. Perhaps out of an inherent need to push Kobe toward the forefront everything Lakers, the public perceived his social media use during games as a big deal. He’s not on the court, so there’s no story there. The focus then shifted to what he was doing off it. Like tweeting.
With the amount of coverage that has been dedicated to this, you’d think that Kobe had announced an early comeback or his retirement. Which even I don’t understand. And it’s why I thought Howard’s honesty was brilliant. No one had said anything along those lines. It’s seemingly obvious that the Lakers don’t check their Twitter during games, yet this whole debacle was being treated as if each of Los Angeles’ missed threes in Game 1 came as a result of their phones vibrating in their pockets mid shot, with Twitter advice from Kobe.
Yes, I understand that’s ridiculous, but that’s exactly the point. Bryant can tweet during games if he wants. He can post videos of himself doing backflips he wants. He can do whatever the hell he wants during games because he’s not playing. That he felt the need to stop using Twitter is absurd. Just like our reaction to him tweeting was absurd.
And yeah, just as absurd as us lamenting the loss of Kobe, the in-game serial tweeter.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com. Follow @danfavale on Twitter for his latest posts and all things NBA.
