Maybe Los Angeles Lakers superstar guard Kobe Bryant truly is the asshole of a Mona Lisa he’s been painted as over the last few days.

Kobe doesn’t play ball anymore — with the media. Why should he? He’s the NBA’s most highly decorated player, and while his current skills and athleticism might not be on top of the league, Kobe’s stature remains unchanged.

The problem is that everyone’s forgotten that small fact, but not Bryant. It seems he’s growing weary of reminding us as well.

Dwight Howard most likely didn’t want to play with Kobe Bryant. He’s on a team with a star player who doesn’t care about playing defense, although the popular strategic adage is “defense wins championships.”

When asked about his motivation for heading to the Houston Rockets and accepting $30 million less in salary, Howard responded to Yahoo Sports:

”I’m in a better place mentally, physically and spiritually now”

Mentally, physically and spiritually rich, while ringless, light on respect and a few seasons past his ceiling. Howard is seasons departed from being mentioned in the best NBA center conversation, and when he does it comes with a caveat usually directly towards his infamous lackadaisical and comedic personality off and on the court.

Kobe didn’t have to run Howard out of town; their agendas weren’t aligned. While there’s a small minority that feels Howard was a huge loss for the Lakers, as infectious as winning can be on a franchise as whole, an underachieving attitude is equally contagious.

You can’t blame Kobe for not easily relinquishing the franchise that he feels ownership over, equal to any member of the Buss family, and like an overprotective owner, he won’t see his hard-nosed serious legacy carried over to a clown or anyone unworthy of holding court.

In the same way some single women like to say, “I want a nice guy,” but continue to date the bad boys, players love to say it’s all about winning, even if their actions prove otherwise. However, it seems we’ve grown accustomed to celebrating the prima donnas, while revering the battle-tested and old faithful.

Even if Kobe’s the biggest jerk in the NBA … if there’s one player that deserves to be an insufferable abrasive egomaniac, doesn’t he deserve to be? Isn’t he in the company of guys who have earned the right to tap dance on nerves, while still being respected?

It’s not that Kobe doesn’t want to relinquish his stardom within the Lakers organization. Or even if he’s incapable of sharing, it’s possible that it’s half ego and half possession, and for Kobe “possession” is worth more than nine-tenths of the law.

It’s the issue of handing over his life’s work, and the thousands of hours of pain, practice, traveling, criticism and a myriad of other factors that have been apart of it. A collection of circumstances that fold younger players like lawn chairs consistently.

The Lakers have had their fair share of sub-stars, and there hasn’t been one player that’s suited up in a Lakers uniform since Bryant’s rookie season that’s worked harder. Until there’s an adequate replacement, Kobe will sit on the Lakers throne and judge with harsh scrutiny, and if you think Ramon Sessions, Chris Bosh or Dwight Howard are worthy of a passed torch, you’re sorely mistaken.

Kobe wants to win. He knows better than anyone else in the league what it takes to be the last team standing when the season’s over. If five championships don’t create a blueprint for success, then what does? In a league that’s often referred to as less competitive to filled with a lack of passion, are there any players dedicated enough to forego their “happiness” for the ultimate goal?

Kobe isn’t any more of an asshole than Michael Jordan was. Kobe is just a victim of his time. One of the league’s most reviled due to modern technology, and if Jordan punched Steve Kerr in practice when Twitter, video streaming and other technologies were readily available, both players would currently be held in closer regard.

While there’s no record of Kobe punching a teammate, he’s no stranger to berating a few of his on camera … the overall goal is to be better — the sports equivalent of tough love.

In the Lakers recent preseason loss to the Phoenix Suns, Bryant was asked about the accusations from ESPN writer Henry Abbott. His response in kind:

“One thing I’ve come to understand over the years is that you’ll have a bad story that comes out on a Monday and it seems like it’s the end of the world and it seems like everybody’s taking shots at you. But time goes by and then you look back on it and it was just a Monday. “Then you have another great story that comes out maybe a month later, or something like that, and it’s a fantastic story. And then there’s a bad story that comes out one month after that. So you understand that it’s a cycle, and things are never as good or as bad as they seem in the moment in time.”

Drawing comparisons to GOAT for the entirety of Bryant’s career, we’ve just shoveled out another. Two league greats, one in the Hall of Fame and another as surefire as they come. Both hated by the majority of media who aren’t savvy enough to understand that some players just don’t care about the circus late in their careers.

They’ve been under the tent, seen the show and have met the puppet master working the strings.

There’s one last final piece of business for the aforementioned type of player. For Bryant. It’s to win at all costs.

If that’s the definition of a certified jerk, so be it.