Kobe Speaks Out on the Trayvon Martin Case

It's been almost a year since George Zimmerman was found not guilty of killing Trayvon Martin.

At the time of the verdict, a strong contingent of black celebrities and athletes supported Martin and his family, but one voice that was silent during the entire ordeal was Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant.

While the Miami Heat as a team made a personal statement of their own by wearing hoodies in support of Martin, Bryant said nothing.

Until now.

"I won’t react to something just because I’m supposed to, because I’m an African-American,” Bryant said. “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.”

Bryant is like Michael Jordan in a sense because Jordan never came out and actively supported any political figure or cause because he's a name brand.

Tiger Woods is the same way, which ticked off black activists like Jim Brown, who for years has been involved in African-American causes. Brown feels if you are a black athlete, you should lend your voice and support to any black cause.

And over the years, Brown has found himself in controversial situations when he's spoken out against athletes who refuse to support black causes.

I'm sure Bryant's comments won't please Brown. They've already raised the temperature elsewhere in the black community.

Bryant has a right to believe what he believes, but he can't get upset if support from the black community drops off because of his beliefs.