By Jayar Jackson

Alright, I know I'm about a week behind on this one, but the back and forth online debate over Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant's Aston Martin jumping stunt could use some discussion for those of you that missed it. For the inconsistent YouTube surfers and sporadic NBA fans, here is what many have been talking about.

While 16 year old kids have been taping themselves attempting to jump over moving cars for years, resulting mostly in face plants and broken egos, a multi-million dollar asset to possibly the #1 team in the Western Conference of the NBA hasn't been documented doing such a pointless activity. With its explosion onto the internet, in a home video style quality, the debate over whether or not Bryant really jumped over a speeding Aston Martin was sparked. After the most careful analysis and rigorous consultation with the most reliable of sources; YouTube commentary, it's obvious to me that the fake scene was staged.

It's not that I don't believe the 6'6" sometimes super human athlete that jumps out of the gym couldn't clear a 4 foot-high vehicle that is traveling fast enough to pass under him in .5 seconds, it's that he wouldn't dare risk his career, or life with a mistimed jump as the car approached. All for what is obviously a shoe commercial without all the bells and whistles of a hyped up music track highlighting some of the athlete's most impressive aerial acrobats on the court. Here's an example of one of my favorites...

The one simple camera angle showing Bryant's profile was the first indicator. They never showed where this car was coming from, his teammate and "boy" Ronny Turiaf scattered off camera until the stunt was over, and his "concern" for Kobe's safety was oozing with most athletes' inability to act. At the height of his jump, he looked oddly suspended in air, possibly an indicator of some slight post-shoot special effects at work. Beyond all of that, it looks like the front tire of the car is turning as he "jumps" over it, showing that the car was probably to his right when it passed him, instead of directly in front of him, if there was even a car and Kobe there at the same time at all. But hey, that's just me being a skeptic, a Laker-hating skeptic? Many others swear that Kobe did it, because there's nothing he can't do.

I'll try it next weekend, all I need is for someone to donate a V12 Aston Martin Vanquish to me, and I will prove whether or not this ex-athlete can get even close! I'll take it in black, thank you.