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Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist (and amateur beekeeper) Flea had the honor of performing the national anthem before Kobe Bryant's last hurrah, but for many his bass-only rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" dishonored Old Glory.
The aggrieved who were able to tweet last night (unlike the official @Lakers account) voiced their disapproval. "Hendrix you are not, Flea," seemed to be the consensus. As the New York Daily News put it, Flea "may have to go hide under a bridge." Har har.
Flea's National Anthem was as bad as the Lakers have been the last 3 years.
— Faux John Madden (@FauxJohnMadden) April 14, 2016
5 min left until half and my ears are still bleeding from the "national anthem" by flea #Awful #Disgrace
— Kiel Eigen (@KE_SUPERMAN2) April 14, 2016
Now you can replicate Flea's rendition of The National Anthem at home! Plug in your toaster and throw it into a bathtub full of water!
— Big Daddy Fun Buck$ (@C_Webby) April 14, 2016
Who let this happen? https://t.co/KS0gTssAga
— Carson Lund (@lund_carson) April 14, 2016
Questlove liked it, at least:
yo @Flea the national anthem was a BRILLIANT rendition! naturally the uninformed & unenlightened will always continue to drown in ignorance.
— B.R.O.theR. ?uestion (@questlove) April 14, 2016
Flea doesn't care about you, haters. He's probably still riding the high off opening for the finale of his favorite player. "I've watched, listened to or at least read about pretty much every game that Kobe Bryant played his entire career," Flea told Rolling Stone. "And I see someone who put a lot of stock in discipline and work ethic and nurturing his creativity. I just have always respected him so much—even when he was young and arrogant and foolish and you know, arguably self-centered. He's always meant so much to me."
Later that night after the game, the bassist told TMZ: "I rocked that shit!"