Kobe Bryant's ruptured Achilles kept him stuck in Los Angeles and unable to travel to San Antonio, where the Lakers were taking on the Spurs in Game 1 of the Western Conference quarterfinals. Removed from his team, and from the spotlight, that should have made for a simple and quiet afternoon for Kobe, who would sit on his couch and watch the game in peace. But this is Kobe, and there is no such thing as quiet or peace.
Thanks to the handy dandy Twitter machine, Kobe got to share his thoughts with the world all afternoon as he watched the Lakers fall to the Spurs, 91-79. And it got really, really awkward by the end of the game.
Gotta get to the block. See wat spurs r gonna do with pau and d12
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) April 21, 2013
That was a simple enough start to the Coach Kobe commentary. After all, it doesn't take a genius to realize that a team with Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard should probably get the ball inside.
What I would say if I was there right now? "Pau get ur ass on the block and don't move till u get it"#realtalk
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) April 21, 2013
Post. Post. Post.
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) April 21, 2013
At this point, you can hear Mike D'Antoni yelling, "Shut the hell up, Kobe. We know."
To be fair, the Lakers didn't get the ball inside. When DeJuan Blair was guarding Gasol in the third quarter they didn't get him a single post touch. They couldn't take advantage of Matt Bonner guarding Gasol either, so Kobe has a point, but that point could be shared in a text or phone call to D'Antoni, right?
No, instead Kobe thought it best to share it with the Twitter world, which now includes his former coach Phil Jackson. This won't get weird at all...
@philjackson11 I gotta do something. It's horrible not being able to at least be there with them.
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) April 21, 2013
No, you were right on…it’ll drive you bananas to just watch the ship go down. Just one game down-get one road win
— Phil Jackson (@PhilJackson11) April 21, 2013
@kobe was coaching this one. He was on the beam
— Phil Jackson (@PhilJackson11) April 21, 2013
Kobe and Phil, on the same page once again. It's a beautiful thing to see, unless you're D'Antoni.
In his postgame press conference, D'Antoni was asked about Kobe's tweets, to which he responded, "it's great to have," while rolling his eyes.
But D'Antoni wasn't bothered by Kobe's commentary. After all, "He's a fan. Just a fan right now," said D'Antoni.
As you might have guessed, Kobe didn't take well to being called a fan.
A fan?? Lol #microphonetalk
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) April 21, 2013
A half-sarcastic tiff from thousands of miles away between Kobe and his embattled head coach D'Antoni with 11-ringed Phil Jackson involved? Nope, that's not awkward at all.
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