The book is clearly intended for fans of Kobe Bryant, fans of professional basketball, or fans of basketball as a game. What are the perceptions of the general public on all three of these areas of focus? What is the role, or the value, of professional sports superstars in contemporary society, and of professional sports in general?

This question asks readers to critically engage with some of the fundamental principles associated with the book’s existence. Some of those include the public veneration of professional athletes, America’s cult of celebrity in general and of celebrity athletes in particular, the idea of athlete as role model, and the place of professional sports of all sorts in public life in general and American life in particular. None of these is referenced in the book, but again, they are part of why Kobe became the success he was, and...