A Historical Perspective on Wade Decking Kobe

Today on PTI, the panelists dismissed any bad blood between the Black Mamba and Flash. Not sure what world they are living in, but I'm confident there were bad intentions behind Wade's foul (even if he didn't mean to break Kobe's nose and give him a minor concussion).

Wade is tangentially related to a monumental turning point in Kobe's career, and one of the biggest moves in the NBA in the past decade: Shaq going to Miami. Of course Kobe hated those Heat teams (and by extension Wade). Shaq's move ultimately led to 4 years of irrelevance for the Lakers, and for a man aspiring to be one of the best ever, losing 4 years in your prime is surely a source of immense pain. Pain that, for Kobe, always seems to be reflected back somewhere, and for many years it was against the Heat (which has always been Wade's team).

Then there is the fact that for the past decade, these two are always talked about in the same breath. Whether talking about the best players in this era, or creating a measuring stick for up-and-comers, our minds always go to these two. They dominate the ball, they take and make big shots, they can shoot, they can get to the rim, they can play D, etc. With so many similarities, and such competitive people, how is there not to be some bad blood between the two? It's like a constant battle between the alpha males in a pride of lions. Yeah, I'm sure they are friends off the court.

It also must be mentioned that it was the All Star Game, which only has one purpose, to entertain. Oh, and TO NOT GET HURT OR DO ANYTHING THAT HAS ANY CHANCE OF HURTING ANYONE. LIKE WHACKING THEM IN THE HEAD. No one had played defense all game, as it should be. Wade had other plans, and just couldn't hold back his instinct to go after Mr. Bryant.

Lastly, there was his lack of apology. After breaking a guy's nose and giving him a concussion, Wade's response was that he still owes him one. What ever happened to "no blood no foul"? Wade realizes that his foul was uncalled for, but because of his history with Kobe, he couldn't bring himself to admit it. Mark your calendar's for Sunday, because another piece of this story is about to be written.