Kobe Bryant Gives GQ Mag 'The Finger'

By A. Scott Walton
What’s the point of doing a nine-page cover story on a mega-celebrity who’s not willing or able to provide three Tweets worth of words worth printing?
That's the question you'll likely ask after reading the awe-inspired feature on L.A. Lakers guard Kobe Bryant in the March '10 issue of GQ.
Penned by the superb, formerly Atlanta-based scribe J.R. Moehringer, the article sheds as little light on the first ballot Hall of Famer's sense of style as it does on his sense of purpose.
Aside from the cover shot of Kobe outfitted (sharply) in a peak-lapeled Dolce & Gabbana suit, the only other clothes shown in the spread are a Jockey tank top and a pair of J. Crew jeans.
And rather than give any clues about the genesis of his win-at-all-costs mindframe on the court, Bryant merely smirks that he and his wife Vanessa typically engage in war-like games of Cranium.
The article pays scant reference to Bryant's lasting animosity toward former teammate Shaquille O'Neal, and wastes too many words explaining why Kobe can't discuss that incident with a hotel clerk seven years ago in Colorado.
Instead, it fixates _ at the beginning and end _ on a nagging injury to Kobe's "shooting" finger. And it diverts our focus to Kobe's penchant for shuttling from his mansion to "work" on a private helicopter.
Did GQ get taken for a ride on this high-budget cover project? Or, as the most poignant and monosyllabic quote that Kobe offered up about that precious finger the sum of the man?
Maybe he's "sore", and nothing else.
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