But there are times when both really make me shake my head and wonder.
During Tuesday night's game in LA against San Antonio, Mr Bryant used a gay slur to express his displeasure with referee Bernie Adams.
Not cool.
Yesterday, Mr Bryant issued this statement:
"What I said last night should not be taken literally," he said. "My actions were out of frustration during the heat of the game, period. The words expressed do NOT reflect my feelings towards the gay and lesbian communities and were NOT meant to offend anyone."
Not cool.
Mr Bryant further explained himself on ESPN 710's Mason & Ireland radio show:
"The comment that I made, even though it wasn't meant in the way it was perceived to be, is nonetheless wrong, so it's important to own that," Bryant said on Mason & Ireland.
Bryant added: "The concern that I have is for those that follow what I say and are inspired by how I play or look to me as a role model or whatever it is, for them not to take what is said as a message of hate or a license to degrade or embarrass or tease. That's something I don't want to see happen. It's important for me to talk about that issue because it's OK to be who you are, and I don't want this issue to be a part of something or to magnify something that shouldn't be."
Not cool.
Dude, you said what you said and I don't care what the situation was.
You said what you said.
Don't use the heat of the moment excuse for what you said. Don't try to explain what you didn't mean to do. You don't really own what you said if you have to jump through a lot of hoops to explain it away.
A real apology is simple...You say you're sorry for the unacceptable and inappropriate things you said. You unequivocally say that there is no excuse for what you said. You apologize to the LGBTQ community, and to everyone who heard or read about what you said, without qualification.
Real apologies have to contain a mea culpa. You've got to apologize for what you did or said. Then you've got to take steps to prevent the same mistake.
Do that. Own that. Be that example.
Otherwise, you're just a guy who gets to say whatever the hell comes to mind in any given situation, and fall back on putting the onus on those who may have been offended by the behavior to decide whether they accept your "statement" as honest.
And that's just not cool.
