Dear Kobe,

I think you are a genuinely good guy. I always have. Even after I heard some of your teammates call you conceited and your coach call you selfish last season; I always gave you the benefit of the doubt. Even when everyone in the media blamed you for the demise of the Lakers last summer, I defended you writing a column that almost crashed my e-mail box with hate mail on Christmas Day.

You're the friend no one else likes. The one whose name elicits the groans of all your other friends and is followed by a collective, "Not that guy." But what can I say? You're my guy, so I always put my arm around you and told everyone to be cool because you were all right.

But at the risk of sounding like Jerry McGwire, Kobe, "Help me, help you! Help me, help you!"

Last week I set up a meeting between you and Utah's Andrew Bogut for a cover story that was supposed to run in Sports Illustrated on Campus this week. The idea was to pair one of the top professional athletes with one of the top collegiate athletes in the same sport. The objective was to have the professional serve as a mentor for the amateur. You know -- show the kid how to handle himself with class on and off the court.

Everyone in the office called me crazy for picking you as the mentor, but you were the perfect choice in my book. After all, considering the season you've had, I figured no other player in the league could fully explain the highs and lows of the NBA. You seemed down with the idea and Andrew was definitely excited to meet you.

Yet while Andrew stood in the hotel lobby of the Los Angeles Athletic Club, his Utah jersey in hand waiting to meet you, your PR people called to tell me you would not be showing up because you weren't up for it. I had to explain to him his day was wasted and tried to make up for it by getting him a flight back home as soon as possible.

I wasn't angry. I've been stood by my fair share of people, but I was disappointed that you blew off a chance to offer some guidance to Andrew. You were well enough to score a team-high 18 points against Sacramento the day before and a team-high 20 points against Phoenix the day you guys were supposed to meet.

While I don't agree with this perception, I don't think I need to tell you that you are the least liked guy in the NBA, if not all sports. No offense, but do you know how many Kobe Bryant fans there are there outside of Los Angeles that aren't your relatives? Not many. This was a perfect chance for you to show you could be a better leader and mentor off the court than you've been on the court.

It's moments like these I wish you would open your eyes and see the world no longer revolves around you. The number of people that look up to you are diminishing by the day (just look at your jersey sales this past year) because of a growing perception that you don't care about anyone but yourself. Again, I've always known you as someone else, as someone who can be a mentor, but unfortunately not many other people view you that way.

Even though you backed out of your commitment and were never able to meet Andrew, I suppose you did teach him how to handle himself as a professional in some manner. As long as he watches how you do handle your commitments off the court and does the exact opposite he should be just fine.

Sincerely,

Arash

Posted by BRIGGS:

his wife has had some serious health issues with her pregnancy so we may not know all there is to know about what happened.

As long as he watches how you do handle your commitments off the court and does the exact opposite he should be just fine.