Kobe Bryant takes LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat to task for their reaction to the Trayvon Martin killing, which included James posting a photo online of all his teammates draped in hoodies as a show of solidarity for the Florida teen.
The 17-year-old Martin was shot and killed in February of 2012 by self-appointed, neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman as he returned home from a nearby convenience store and Zimmerman elected to follow him because he thought he looked suspicious.
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The case attracted national attention and divided opinions largely along racial lines, particularly after Zimmerman was later acquitted of murder charges nearly a year later.
"I won't react to something just because I'm supposed to, because I'm an African-American," Bryant told the New Yorker magazine. "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."
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Bryant also recently came under fire from NFL Hall of Famer and social activist Jim Brown who blasted the L.A. Lakers star as "somewhat confused about culture, because he was brought up in another country."
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