04/23/24
July 06, 2003
Kobe Bryant Arrested For Sexual Assault: Somewhat newsfiltery, I know. But still, a little unexpected. Who knows, certainly, if there's any truth to the allegations, but this can't help the lucrative endorsement career. I bet he's glad he sowed up the Nike deal prior to this mess.
posted by jonson to basketball at 07:57 PM - 13 comments
I'll wait to comment until we know more of the circumstances. Things like this always seem to shift a day or two after the arrest.
posted by wfrazerjr at 08:33 PM on July 06, 2003
actually, Bryant turned himself in on Friday, so it IS a day or two after the arrest. Still, this could be a stitch-up job like what happened to Webber and Howard in Washington. Kobe's image has been pretty much spotless to date, so I guess he deserves the benefit of the doubt, same as everyone else. (still can't stand the Lakers though)
posted by Cormac at 09:00 PM on July 06, 2003
Fun fact about the ESPN article: of its 412 words, 120 were spent rehashing Bryant's career stats and highlights. Context or padding? Brace yourself for a good run of hamhanded, dreary tv/op-ed pieces about athletes as role models, the assumed privilege of celebrities, etc. . . .
posted by jason streed at 09:40 PM on July 06, 2003
I have come to the conclusion, after much research, that most professional athletes are professional assholes, so I'm not giving him the benefit of the doubt. So there!
posted by insomnyuk at 10:52 PM on July 06, 2003
I have come to the conclusion that most (well, most younger) professional athletes have trouble keeping their pants zippered, so I have to wonder if his rep for good thinking is overrated. OTOH, many of these accusations later appear to be motivated by money... OTGH, who really cares about this crap?
posted by billsaysthis at 11:49 PM on July 06, 2003
What does OTGH stand for?
posted by jonson at 12:35 AM on July 07, 2003
On The Gripping Hand, which translates into "on the third hand." It's a reference to Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's Motie SF books.
posted by Bryant at 06:02 AM on July 07, 2003
Thanks, Bryant. Say, you aren't by chance NBA superstar Kobe Bryant, are you? Cause you got some 'splaining to do if you are!
posted by jonson at 08:45 AM on July 07, 2003
More information should be in Westlaw (I work on their databases) by the end of the day. If I can dig out any of the specifics, I will post them here.
posted by jasonspaceman at 08:58 AM on July 07, 2003
Seeing the articles in the paper this morning, seems odd to me that the police did not follow their usual procedure of having the DA review the information before issuing an arrest warrent. Wonder why they rushed this through, don't you?
posted by billsaysthis at 10:54 AM on July 07, 2003
Dude, "I wanna be like Mike" means Michael Jordan, not Mike Tyson.
posted by kirkaracha at 12:26 PM on July 07, 2003
free kobe. Looks like he was at the hospital not for surgery but to submit his dna sample in reagrds to the case.
posted by jasonspaceman at 11:02 AM on July 10, 2003
The Nike deal is largely incentive-driven, I think - there was a piece on ESPN about how much of it will hinge on Kobe's ability to hawk the shoes right, which involves him generating some street cred. This doesn't strike me as the right way to go about it tho...probably would have been better to get caught waving a nine around in a nightclub at 3 am.