Is Kobe talking Smack or Truth?

Kobe Bryant Stirs Social Media Firestorm With Controversial Comments!

Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant has found himself in the middle of a social media firestorm after he ruffled feathers with comments he made about the Trayvon Martin case.

During an interview for a profile of the basketball star featured in the April 4th issue of the New Yorker, Bryant had some interesting thoughts on the events surrounding the case that captured national attention. According to Colorlines, he specifically criticized Lebron James and the Miami Heat for posting a photo wearing hoodies in solidarity with the teen's family.

"I won’t react to something just because I’m supposed to, because I’m an African-American,” he said. “That argument doesn’t make any sense to me. So we want to advance as a society and a culture, but, say, if something happens to an African-American we immediately come to his defense? Yet you want to talk about how far we’ve progressed as a society? Well, we’ve progressed as a society, then don’t jump to somebody’s defense just because they’re African-American. You sit and you listen to the facts just like you would in any other situation, right? So I won’t assert myself."

But people weren't happy about Bryant's sentiments, and they took to Twitter to voice their opinions. News correspondent Roland Martin was among the many critics of the athlete's comments.

The New Yorker profile mentions the Jim Brown incident Martin referred to. In December 2013, the former NFL running back said Bryant was "somewhat confused about culture, because he was brought up in another country."

Bryant didn't let Brown's comments go without a response then, and he didn't ignore critiques this time around either. He took to Twitter to defend himself against accusations that he ignored the tragedy of Martin's death and was ignorant about the case.

Author Eric Walters

49ers take a Timeout!

The 49ers have decided to call a timeout on extension talks with quarterback Colin Kaepernick. 

According to NFL.com, the team has decided to put contract negotiations on hold while Miami police investigate an incident that Kaepernick was involved in on April 1. Kaepernick, Quinton Patton and Seahawks receiver Ricardo Lockette were all named in an incident report that was filed by an unnamed woman on April 3 and released to the public on April 10.

The incident report doesn't make any accusations against anyone, but the woman did say that she got naked in front of Kaepernick, who left the room after the woman took her clothes off. On the morning of April 2, the woman woke up in a hospital room and didn't "remember how she got there or who transported her to the hospital."

The woman also mentioned alcohol and marijuana in the incident report.

According to a separate police report, Lockette called 911 twice after the woman refused to leave his apartment. The Seahawks receiver called police at 12:03 a.m. and 12:20 a.m. on April 2 because the woman was lying naked on Kaepernick's bed and refused to leave. Miami Fire Rescue was eventually dispatched to the apartment and the woman was taken to the hospital around 12:32 a.m.In a series of tweets sent out on April 11, Kaepernick maintained that he did nothing wrong.

The charges made in the TMZ story and other stories I've seen are completely wrong. They make things up about me that never happened. I take great pride in who I am and what I do, but I guess sometimes you have to deal with someone who makes things up. I want to thank all of the people who have shared their encouraging sentiments. I assure you that your faith is not misplaced.

CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora doesn't believe the incident will affect Kaepernick's asking price. La Canfora expects the quarterback to still be seeking about $20 million a year.

From La Canfora: 

Kaepernick believes he belongs in the class of $20M-per-season quarterbacks. And nothing has changed that, certainly not the "incident report" and murky allegations against him recently. Kaepernick has been charged with nothing, police eventually were in that apartment on the night in question to restrain the female and forcibly remove her from the suite, according to sources. Kaepernick did not invite her to the room and, from what I am hearing, Kaepernick was not even in that hotel for most of the night in question.

The two sides originally began negotiations in February and talks were believed to have started off well. However, according to NFL.com, the two sides had recently been pretty far apart on numbers.  Should social media play such a huge part in your career in whatever industry you work hard in. Accountability is one thing but a witch hunt is another concern that should be explored and dismissed.  

Author Eric Walters