Kobe Bryant: He's Just Not That Into Poo

I'm always torn on my feelings about Kobe Bryant. Talent aside, his personality always seems a little prickly and pretentious; it's like he's burdened by his greatness and just can't communicate with inferior beings.

There are other times where he appears to be one of the most down-to-earth, good-natured players in the league. Fortunately for Marc Ecko, of Complex magazine, that Kobe Bryant showed up for his one-on-one interview. And he revealed a few personal things, including one of his phobias:

Talk to me about a private failure that wasn't in the headlines, the thing that just keeps you up at night. Something people can relate to. Not necessarily a public thing, but a thing you twist and turn over. Kobe Bryant: [Long pause] Dogshit? Like, I hate dogshit. I have a dog and I do not clean the crap outside. It's a phobia. It drives me crazy. You wake up in the morning and you think, Damn, this big ol' German shepherd probably just took a crap outside in the yard, and I gotta wake up and go pick it up. That is something that keeps me tossin' and turnin'. Does that qualify?

I guess, but that's not so bad. That's just dogshit.

Kobe Bryant: I hate dogshit. I. HATE. DOGSHIT.

You're a neat freak!

Kobe Bryant: Not necessarily. I just don't like dogshit. But the thing that really keeps you up at night all the time, my wife as well, is our kids. It's always you thinking, Are you raising 'em the right way? How are they doing?

And there we are. Kobe Bryant: concerned father, coprophobic.

Heavy In The Game: Kobe Bryant Interview [Complex]