Kobe: Guardian of an American Cultural Institution

Abstract

The presence of Kobe Bryant will forever loom tall in the annals of American basketball. While some describe it as a game, a business, a series of coupled industries, or an American pastime, we argue that basketball serves as a cultural institution. Moreover, this paper positions Kobe Bryant among the standard-bearers of a social institution rather than a game…and argues that Kobe, for fans, admirers, competitors, and the institutional establishment of basketball, he is part of the embodiment of ideals, hopes, aspiration, and goals of a people as they are expressed through American culture. While the formative years of the career of Kobe Bryant may have been fraught with a series of doubts, uncertainties, and indiscretions, he became the embodiment of a cultural identity, an international icon, and a transformational figure both on and off the basketball court. Additionally, by Bryant being memorialized, in the form of formal and informal memorials and the newly renamed, NBA All-Star Game Kobe Bryant MVP, his legacy transcends the immediacy of a game or the year of a season and lends to the contributions to basketball as a cultural institution and to the American ideal. Keywords Cultural icon • Mamba mentality • Kobe Basketball as a Cultural InstitutionBasketball represents one of the "true" American-developed institutions created by James Naismith in 1892. As the game's appeal grew, it spread around the country. As noted by George (1992) the game has come a long way from Naismith's original game. Americans play the game on rural dirt, suburban