Should Kobe Bryant tweet during Game 2? World Peace says yes

The Lakers' Metta World Peace said Kobe Bryant's tweeting during Game 1 against the San Antonio Spurs was not a distraction.

By Mike Bresnahan

April 23, 2013 12 AM PT

SAN ANTONIO -- If Metta World Peace created a hashtag to summarize this whole Twittergate thing, it would be pretty easy: #letkobetweet

The Lakers forward said he had no problem with Kobe Bryant’s Twitter activity during the Lakers’ 91-79 loss to the San Antonio Spurs in their playoff opener Sunday.

“I love when Kobe tweets,” World Peace said Tuesday. “Kobe should tweet Game 2, the whole time, every possession, critique us, criticize us, chew us out .... I love Kobe. Kobe’s great.

“He should coach. Put a suit and tie on, a bow tie, put the Mamba symbol right here and get on the bench and coach. Drag that leg here. Kobe’s a great coach. Too bad he’s not going to coach after [retirement]. He would be a great coach.”

So Bryant’s not a distraction going into Game 2 Wednesday at San Antonio?

“Absolutely not,” World Peace said. “I’m a distraction. I’m much more of a distraction than Kobe.”

World Peace enjoyed the exchange between Bryant and Coach Mike D’Antoni after Game 1. Bryant was critical of the Lakers, tweeting that they needed to go to the low post more often, but D’Antoni rolled his eyes while talking to reporters about Bryant’s tweets and called him a fan.

“That was a great joke,” World Peace said. “Mike D’Antoni’s slick, boy. That was awesome. I love that. Kobe was awesome tweeting coach’s decisions on the court and then coach tweeted him, or messaged him back. It’s all about that.”

Bryant already has said he will not tweet during Game 2 because he now considers it to be a distraction based on the Game 1 reaction. D’Antoni didn’t want to jump back into the Twitter fray Tuesday.

“I didn’t even grow up tweeting,” he said. “I can’t even comment because I don’t even know how to tweet.”

Dwight Howard also distanced himself from the conversation.

“I don’t check my Twitter during the game so I don’t know. I think we’ve just got to go play. We can’t worry about what anybody is saying,” he said. “We all understand he wants to be here. He wants to be part of the playoffs. We wish he was here. We wish he was healthy.”

World Peace, by the way, was not a Twitter follower of Bryant as of Tuesday afternoon.

“I follow the Dalai Lama, I follow a couple of other people,” World Peace said. “I haven’t gotten a direct message from the Dalai. I sent him a few direct messages but he didn’t respond. I guess he’s too good for Metta World Peace.”

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