There's a song by an artist name Gotye called "Somebody That I Used to Know." It's one name, like Sting. There's a trippy video for it. And in light of recent developments in the Lakers' season, particularly their second-round exit in five games to the Oklahoma City Thunder in which Kobe Bryant had extremely forgettable Games 2 and 4 in the fourth quarters, someone has made a parody.

 

There's been a fascinating sociological development among Lakers fans over the past three seasons. There's essentially Kobe Bryant Lakers fans, and then Lakers fans. The Lakers fans understand that Bryant's sometimes-excessive gunning, while occassionaly the sole reason the Lakers win and a product of stagnation by his teammates, can limit the team and cost them wins. Bryant fans, on the other hand, chalk up everything to his teammates and claim that if Bryant has a bad night, or five, it's just that, and that he'll be back. 

But Father Time is hanging around waiting. Sadly, there's one thing you can bet on. Bryant's response were he to see this video would be to go to the gym and immediately start working on his jumper, despite the fact it's not going to get any better. Writers would write about his work ethic and devotion, and Andrew Bynum still wouldn't get the ball anymore.

That's why, in some respects, Bryant is still exactly the Kobe that we used to know.