This kind of hurts to watch. At Wednesday’s Lakers-Grizzlies game, Kobe wandered back to the bench and gave high fives to his teammates and a couple fans. But right in front of him was a fan who stretched out her arms, thinking she was going to get a hug from Kobe. There was no hug.
Kobe Bryant awkwardly denies fan a hug during walk to the bench
This is the part where I become a Kobe Bryant hug truther. There are a couple possibilities:
1. What if Kobe just didn’t see the fan? He’s tall, and she’s short -- if you’ve ever walked into a crowd who wanted to shake your hand or hug you, there’s a good chance you’ll miss at least one person, because of sensory overload. Seeing this fan getting denied a hug is heartbreaking, but I honestly think this was an accident on Kobe’s part. Lots of folks want a piece of Kobe; someone’s going to be left out eventually.
2. What if Kobe just didn’t want to hug her? Maybe Kobe was trying to be nice and imply “Hey lady, maaaaybe don’t hug me right now, because I’m fairly sweaty and you really don’t want to catch this grossness. Maybe ask for a handshake next time.”
Ultimately, I really hope Kobe and the fan made up after this -- or even they haven’t yet, they will soon. You know, a hug for missing that first hug.
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