Basketball beast, rap monster/
Crossover good, a turnaround jumper/
Or just drive in the lane and dunk on dunkers/
You know where it's going, it's going down yo/
This is the Lakeshow, but don't drown though/
I call him King Bryant, now let the crown show."
—Lil Wayne, "Kobe Bryant"
It is appropriate that AMC ran the edited version of Kill Bill —you remember the "Party Wagon," don't you?—over the holiday weekend.
By the way, there were so many bleeps, I thought the NBA Finals had already started and that ABC, instead of AMC, had mic'ed up Kevin Garnett.
Kill Bill , you may remember, was the movie that introduced us to the lethal powers of the black mamba snake and inspired Kobe Bryant to give himself a nickname, a bold move attempted only once before in popular culture, by Seinfeld 's George Costanza.
Of course, that kind of moxie only enhances Kobe Bryant's attraction to local fans and the Laker faithful. No matter what off-the-court pouting or trouble Kobe has been in, the guy finds his way back into our good graces. Sure, he's a prima donna, but he's our prima donna (even dressing the part for the local newspaper's photo spread).
The mellowing that comes with old age and returning the Lakers to championship glory also helps.
Kobe faces his latest and toughest test of fan appreciation and his place in the NBA pantheon: overcome the demons of the past—Paul Pierce playing possum (Game One), the Lakers giving back the largest first-quarter lead in NBA Finals history (Game Four), and the no-show (Game Six)—to beat the Boston Celtics. Call it "Kill Beacon Hill."
