Vore Dire ... I thought he was that 7-footer the Mavs drafted last season. I think you have to define what you mean by "reputation." If you mean his standing among his peers, I highly doubt any of this will make any difference. You lie down with dogs ... If you're talking public opinion, it's going to be damaging, but the public tends to forget (except perhaps in the OJ case). Some people will still buy his jerseys, and he'll still be cheered at the Staples Center. If you talking endorsements, he's done. The fact that he cheated on his wife and admitted it will be enough to wipe out some of his contracts and make marketers think thrice about signing him up for their products. This has some pretty decent (if mealy-mouthed) opinions.
I dunno - I would think that this doesn't really compare to OJ at all - a retired athlete, out of the spotlight until the trial. I think more of a cross between Mike Tyson and Jason Kidd. We're talking rape here - serious offence, he'll go to prison if convicted. So here's my two cents. Now Tyson has always been viewed as something of a violent man (Was the golden boy who picked himself up off the streets, then he hit Robin Givens, then he raped Desiree Washington) so it hurt his appeal among families, but upped his appeal (or the circus -like atmosphere) within boxing - becuase it is a violent sport and we want to see animals in there (or at least enough of us do to propel his career - which has been over for 3 years). Boxing as a sport to a certain extent benefits from having people like Tyson around. But from Tyson's perspective, he was the most popular athlete within his profession when it happened - and if you examine his marketability outside the ring, his success (or lack thereof) in the ring following the conviction it hurt him badly - and that's in boxing - the most corrupted organized sport around - maybe next to horse racing. Jason Kidd had the wife abuse thing - what makes him a little different is that he was very squeaky clean before - and it hurt his marketablilty then and to this day, he still doesn't have the endorsement support that a player of his calibre could. He is still with his wife, she has supported him - and it still hurt him. Kobe has the worst of both worlds - a squeaky clean image coupled with accusations of a terrible crime, in a sport that won't benefit from his tarnished image. Not only will his endorsement partners start distancing themselves from him - I see the NBA doing it too (Kobe highlights go down in promo spots, on air mentions drop, etc.). He has already been irrevocably damaged.
[Jason Kidd had the wife abuse thing - what makes him a little different is that he was very squeaky clean before] Like hell he was, Weedy. Kidd came into the league with the rep that he'd slapped a girl at a party in college. He already had one child out of wedlock by the time he got to the league. And during his rookie year, his teammates had to drag him away from rowdy fans outside a downtown event. If he's squeaky clean, it's only because a PR team whitewashed his image after he left Dallas.
Bob Jones - I hadn't remembered that - which shows I guess how effective the whitewashing was. Child out of wedlock isn't that uncommon, or that important if it pre-dates his marriage (unless messy lawsuits are involved). All occurences though I don't think attract the same contempt as Kobe's alleged transgressions. You're right though, his behaviour negatively affected his marketability - despite his post-Dallas 're-branding'.
This is probably my first and last post on the Kobe story. I don't know anything, except that everything I'm being told right now is not being said in a quest for the truth, but rather to jumble it. How can any reasonable person come to a conclusion about what happened that night with that in mind? And given that I'm not charged with coming to a conclusion, I'll happily let others do that dirty work. I'm the guy Samsonov mentioned up there, telling him about the 'fixers'. He's got a good link. Read it. Any questions?
Just to echo 86 (and waste more valuable work time) - alluvations to Kobe's guilt or innocence are totally misplaced at this time. I just think an interesting topic is: guilty or innocent, how badly has this already impacted his career?
alluvations?
kloeprich, if I've said it once, I've said it a dozen times, alluvations is a perfectly cromulent word.
Cromulents! Activate the cloaking device!
Alluvations embiggen us all.
kobe threads are popular. kobe is the new soccer.
It cracks me up that people are so passionate about either side before it even hits the courts. Kobe could be a dick, and she could be a nutcase. We will find out either way. The court of public opinion does not matter one bit. Just look at OJ. And just for the record. My father in law lives approximately 1/2 a mile from Lower Merion High. I actually took a picture of the place a few years back while visiting. This place is Beverly Hills East. There is a reason why Philly booed him. He is not one of theirs. His life was extremely comfortable growing up. Just another "fact" to sway public opinion.
Why is Kobe Bryant not "one of theirs" in Philly because his school was affluent? LeBron James' high school in Akron wasn't exactly destitute, but his fromness is not in question.
Screw fromness, what about his cromulence?! Does it effect his street cred?
Yes, questioning his street cred has long been his nemesis. And let me add that I don't care either way. I am whitebread suburbia with zero street cred. The most dangerous people I know have DUI's on their record.
LeBron's cromulence is not to be questioned. LeBron's young. Lebron's fun. Lebron Drinks Pepsi. I'd also like to give a shout-out to my fellow drunk, whitebread, suburbanite peeps.
This woman ran out of his room, crying, met people downstairs, still hysterical, and immediately went to the rape center at the hospital where she had a rape test done on her. This does not smack of a woman who had some quick sex, was pissed about it for some reason, and decided to make the whole thing up. Womem who want to make the thing up generally don't appear immediatley hysterical after the event and immediately proceed to a place where evidence (against their case) can be procured and immediately tell the police she wants to press charges. Of course, no one knows for sure except the two of them, but it doesn't sound as fishy as other cases involving celebrities where the victim waits a week or two before coming forward. I'd be more inclined to believe her.
Wow, I need to do a little Q&A on my spelling. Sorry for all the typos in the above posting!
Oh sorry - I meant Alluviations - the sediment that is produced during erosion. Makes sense now, doesn't it?
Not really. But I'm thick as a rock. And completely unsedimental.
I won't take that for granite.
