Kobe still has a friend in Harper

[aval (grafting)]

http://tinyurl.com/4yzuc


  From his home in Cleveland, Ron Harper could see the wear on Kobe Bryant's
face.

  Harper could hear in the voice how beaten down Bryant was becoming.

  Harper sensed that the world was coming down hard on Bryant, that Bryant was
coming under fire from all corners, that he was feeling a lot of heat and
looked as if he had nowhere to turn.

  So while driving home Tuesday, Harper called his former Laker teammate, his
friend, to let Bryant know that he still had a friend in Harper and that Harper
was going to stand by his side through thick and thin, through all the ups and
downs Bryant was going through.

  "It means a lot to me," Bryant said. "It really does. It ain't that many
friends in this world, especially where I come from, in my position.

  "I looked at the number and I was like, 'Oh, (yeah), it's Long Head (Harper).
' It feels good to have that support from somebody that was there with me be-
fore everything blew up. And he's still there. It feels great."

  Harper heard about the falling out between Bryant and Karl Malone.

  He heard Shaquille O'Neal take his shots at Bryant. He heard about all the
criticism Bryant was getting.

  Enough, Harper decided.

  He felt he had to be the same buddy to Bryant he was when they played toge-
ther with the Lakers from 1999 to 2001.

  "I just called to encourage my man," Harper said by phone.

  "I could tell the kid was down. Hey, he made some mistakes. OK, so who doesn'
t? Nobody is perfect. He ain't perfect. But the kid is trying. Kobe, that's my
guy. He should be given a second chance.

  "Everybody deserves a second chance, right? So let's give him a chance to get
his life back in order."

  The two developed a strong bond while playing together. Harper helped Bryant
learn the triangle offense and how to play the game.

  Now Harper is back in Bryant's life, offering words of wisdom.

  "It's a fraternity, at least when it comes to the guards," Bryant said. "All
the guards that played together, we all stay in touch, especially myself,
(Derek) Fisher and Harp. It's like a brotherhood."



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推 Kobe760422:Kobe 想必有窩心的感覺..^^
推 boyzones:haha..Harper萬歲^_^
推 accostic:真感動~~QQ
推 hbryant:姓 Harper 的 NBA 球員都是好人...
→ rockslame:只是一個朋友要那麼感動嗎?(看不懂原文)
推 Solaris:其實這幾年的控衛還是最懷念Harper@@~