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This week ESPN released its predictions for the 2013-14 season, and the Lakers were not treated kindly. ESPN had them finishing 12th in the Western Conference out of 15 teams.
Kobe fired off this tweet a few hours after ESPN's post went live:
12th I see..
—Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) August 14, 2013
Everyone assumed Kobe wouldn't be back until next winter after he tore his achilles last April. But Kobe, being Kobe, has been vocal about how freakishly well his rehab is going. Last week he claimed that he had "shattered" the timetable for his recovery.
After filing away the ESPN diss, Kobe went on the praise the new Kendrick Lamar verse — where the L.A. rapper crowns himself the best rapper alive and names all of the MCs who are below him.
Kobe has been lamenting the sad state of competitiveness among elite NBA players for months. In an ESPN interview he disparaged the younger generation of players for being too buddy-buddy. When Dwight Howard left L.A. Kobe unfollowed him on Twitter and explained that he sees every other player in the NBA as an enemy.
The Kendrick verse captures that same thirst for competition in an endeavor that has become increasingly friendly, and Kobe obviously loves it.
Other rappers are already using the Kendrick verse as motivation, maybe Kobe is too?
#everythingscompetition, after all.
He threw down the gauntlet. #challengesgiven #challengestaken #everythingscompetition.
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) August 14, 2013