Of Course Kobe Bryant Trademarked The Phrase "Friends Hang Sometimes, Banners Hang Forever"

Kobe is trademarking the phrase "Friends Hang Sometimes Banners Hang Forever" https://t.co/6Z3V4hKYJC pic.twitter.com/6Ld1QOTE4q

— Becca Laurie, PI (@imbeccable) January 15, 2016

Kobe Bryant is the perfect athlete. He's the kind of guy you want on your team. Someone that puts winning basketball games ahead of anything and everything. Hobbies? Interests? Friends? Relationships in general? Fuck 'em. Those don't put rings on his fingers or trophies in his case. That tunnel vision has helped him become one of the greatest, most accomplished basketball players of all time.

Therein lies the problem. He's reached the end of the tunnel. There are no more accolades to earn. No more championships to be won. No more achievements to prioritize. As great of an athlete as Kobe Bryant has been, all signs point to him being equally as shitty of a human being. That's not a coincidence, one just came at the expense of the other. 

Look no further than this trademark. Sure, technically it makes sense. Your friends aren't always going to be around, and your banners -barring arena reconstruction- will always hang. However, this is a sign of something so much bigger. A sign that Kobe is absolutely screwed once he has to live in the real world. A world where he can't just hide away in a practice facility for 20 hours a day. A world where he can't just continue to be the most widely recognizable recluse. By trademarking this factual, yet depressing, phrase it appears that Kobe is going to try his hand in the business world. If I know anything about business it's that you have to form mutually beneficial relationships with other people, even if you are just faking how much you appreciate said relationships. Everything I have seen from Kobe over the course of his career tells me that he's not exactly proficient in putting on a happy face. The fact that we have rarely seen him off the court means we pretty much have to judge him by his actions on the court, and he doesn't appear to be the fairest of negotiators. In his eyes he has never compromised one single possession, you think that type of person is about to start compromising dollar amounts? I wish Kobe success beyond basketball but embracing a mantra that's essentially the equivalent of "fuck everything that's not an NBA championship", while predictable, is probably not the best foot to start off on. Especially considering that the people he is branding towards could probably use the friends since they aren't likely to be a guest of honor at a banner raising ceremony. 


h/t Uproxx