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Kobe Bryant-themed Gotye cover song waxes wistful for ‘The Kobe That We Used to Know’ (VIDEO)

It's a total given that when you think "Kobe Bryant," you think "Stringy-Haired Belgian-Australian Dude Singing About Difficult Relationship Problems With Twee Belgian And/Or Australian Women." I mean, I know it goes without saying, but for the purposes of the post, I guess I have to say it. Sure, "basketball" is No. 2, but that's obviously No. 1. (Rapping with Tyra Banks, clearly, is No. 3.)

So it's both thematically correct and completely reasonable that Dan Rib and Ken Belcher — aka "Kobye" — produced this re-imagining of Gotye's smash "Somebody That I Used to Know" targeted very specifically at the failings of the Los Angeles Lakers star, how his 2011-12 incarnation differs from the unstoppable version of his youth, and how this year's Lakers might have been better off with fewer Kobe shots and more play through twin-tower types Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol ... which, y'know, is kind of what most folks who aren't diehard Laker fans/Kobe stans were saying for most of this season. Although we weren't saying it so breathily.

If nothing else, as we enjoy this cover — and let's be clear: it's a cover worth enjoying, as Kobye has done well to honor both the source material and fans of the thing they are discussing, a double act that is no easy feat to pull off, I can assure you — let's just be glad of one thing: There isn't any body-painting here. I think we can all agree that that's a clear upgrade, irrespective of your gender preferences or artistic sensibilities, if for no other reason than that stuff can be real hard to get off. (DON'T ASK.)

Hat-tip to longtime blog stalwart Jerod Morris of Midwest Sports Fans, via longtime multiplying effect Jimmy Traina of Hot Clicks.