Kobe Bryant is one of four athletes nominated for the ESPY’s Male Athlete of the Year.
But he won’t get it.
Tiger Woods will get the ESPY. Why?
Because the world’s best golfer winning the U.S. Open on one bum knee in a dramatic sudden-death playoff will resonate with the voters much more than Bryant’s last performance. (In case anyone forgot, it was he scored 22 points in the Lakers’ 39-point loss to the Celtics in Game 6 of the NBA Finals.)
That’s not to say Bryant didn’t have an MVP season in getting the Lakers to the NBA Finals. And it’s also not fair to compare an individual sport, where Tiger only had to rely on himself, the greens and his caddie to get him that far, to Bryant having to rely on teammates to step up. Bryant isn’t a heart surgeon.
Still, memories are fleeting and the image of Tiger hobbling around the back nine (plus his five other titles in 2008) will earn him Male Athlete of the Year.
