Byron Scott will most definitely not cry during Kobe Bryant’s final NBA game on Wednesday night.
Okay, actually, maybe he will:
I’m not saying Scott should cry to prove he has a soul, but I’m not not saying it, either. And he should feel totally comfortable emptying those tear ducts of his. There is no need to hide behind outmoded “man’s man” stereotypes.
Men cry. Yours truly balled his eyes out when my doctor told me there was no cure-all for being a New York Knicks loyalist. It happens. And it’s not like the Internet will make fun of Scott for displaying emotions or anything. After all, there’s no viral meme of a crying head that sadistic NBA fans can just slap on a sobbing Byron for sport and giggles and clicks and retweets, is there?
Crap.
Still, Scott may owe Kobe a few (hundred) tears. The end of Bean’s career could spell the doom of Scott’s coaching tenure with the Los Angeles Lakers. He has long been viewed as that bridge between the slow, painful, borderline unwatchable end to the Kobe era and the extensive rebuilding project that awaits.
So when the Lakers square off with the Utah Jazz on Wednesday for Kobe’s last game, please Internet, let Byron be Byron, emotional or devoid of feeling, without the looming threat of social media retribution. We can all use a good cry sometimes—especially Scott, who remains trapped in a loss-loaded foxhole with players ill-fit for the war he calls meaningless basketball.