Philly's Beef With Kobe

Kobe Bryant dropped on bomb on his hometown of Philly: He was a Mets fan.

By TERESA MASTERSON

Updated 5:17 PM EST, Sun, Oct 18, 2009

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Kobe Bryant has done some really dumb things in his life. He’s angered his family by marrying a high schooler, he went to war against one of the most loveable NBA players of all time, he was accused of rape and he’s admitted to infidelity.

But for Philadelphians, our estranged native-son Bryant committed his greatest sin during Game 2 of the NLCS Friday night: He said he was a Mets fan.

The Philadelphia-born L.A. Lakers guard showed up in the middle of the fourth inning at Dodgers stadium wearing a Dodgers hat and a shirt with his own picture on it (really?). He sat with owner Frank McCourt and former Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda, and caused such a buzz that TBS reporter Craig Sager had to go over and ask him the question: Hometown Phillies or now-town Dodgers?

The Phillies aren’t an issue, said Bryant. He grew up a Mets fan.

LOOK

Images: Phillies Lose Game 2 of NLCS

Now, nobody expected the guy to claim allegiance to the Phillies now. He’s been in L.A. for 14 years, and fidelity isn’t exactly one of his strengths. Sager’s question actually seemed pointless, as Bryant was wearing a Dodgers hat and hobnobbing with their greats.

But for the son of 76ers Joe “Jelly Bean” Bryant to say he grew up in Philadelphia and rooted for the New York Mets, well, that’s just blasphemy. That’s no different that growing up a Yankee fan in Boston.

Then again, maybe it shouldn’t be such a surprise. His parents named him after Japanese beef. (It’s true.) How could we expect him to be anything other than a meathead?

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First Published: Oct 17, 2009 8:29 PM EST

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{"totSize":9,"payload_type":"json","status":"1","results":[{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"396494_64677967","adminTags":null,"views":707,"createdBy":13689558,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Philly's Beef With Kobe","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2480174,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"18 Oct 2009 04:27:35 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"fdsa3241","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1087007","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"you're a female why are you posting articles in the sports section? "},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"396494_64677967","adminTags":null,"views":707,"createdBy":9898182,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Philly's Beef With Kobe","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2480174,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"18 Oct 2009 15:38:59 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"ANGRY_AL","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1087797","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"Kobe Bryant is irrelevant. He's been irrelevant, especially in Philadelphia, for a long, long time. The last time he had ANY pertinence was when he won the Pennsylvania state basketball title with Lower Merion."},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"396494_64677967","adminTags":null,"views":707,"createdBy":9585490,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Philly's Beef With Kobe","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2480174,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"18 Oct 2009 15:51:27 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"tulipwalk23","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1087832","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"so he's a mets fans? and?<br><br>geez people, think for minute. what kind of behavior is this?"},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"396494_64677967","adminTags":null,"views":707,"createdBy":7918844,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Philly's Beef With Kobe","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2480174,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"18 Oct 2009 16:53:26 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"anonymous_user","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1088021","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"Philadelphia lost all rights to claim him as their own when they BOOED him in his own hometown while he won the NBA AllStar MVP!! Philadelphia is irrelevant, has been for a long long time..."},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"396494_64677967","adminTags":null,"views":707,"createdBy":13697977,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Philly's Beef With Kobe","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2480174,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"18 Oct 2009 16:53:42 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"spellchecker","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1088022","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"Never mind that this 'article' is a waste, she's supposed to be a professional journalist and can't even get part of the headline grammatically correct. "Kobe Bryant dropped on (?) bomb on his hometown of Philly". How do you get 'on' mixed up with what it should be, which is simply 'a'. That's lame. And how about 'than' growing up a Yankee fan in Boston', as opposed to "that growing up a Yankee fan in Boston". When journalists don't even proofread their work, it's a bad sign. Who's the real meathead here? "}],"error":"","totPages":2}