The Kobe Debacle

anything for ratings! how else are they gonna compete in the reality tv market?? plus, its never too early to start a dallas-lakers rivalry...
seems to me if he didn't have anything positive to say about it, he should've kept his yap shut.

Well, I doubt Mr. Cuban would ever be mistaken for a rocket scientist.

I can see it now - fourth quarter, game on the line, Kobe to shoot two must foul shots on the road and all the fans are yelling, "Rapist, rapist, rapist"!

yeah, and waving photos of scantily-clad hotties. talk about pressure free throws!

the national alliance, a white supremacist group which has ties to the oklahoma bombing case, gets in the act:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/story?id=1594856

I expect more fringe groups to show their ugly heads before this ordeal is over!!!!

I don't like to make opinions until the evidence is under discussion in a courtroom. But, if a guy and girl have consensual sex how, then, and why, then, would the guy "rape" the girl? Why would she be all that important that he wouldn't let her "get away?" This just doesn't wash, or fit the personality profile we're being given.

Personally, I think Kobe Bryant could have enrolled in college with others his own age.

Its very easy for a girl to have stars in her eyes, and get into a 'romantic' situation with a guy--possibly calculating that she will allow him to get to third base, but no further....

As he heads like a steamroller to third, focusing on the glory of a the home run in his mind, he may miss the third base coach's wild-armed signals to take the triple.

It is possible that he missed the signs, or that he was barrelling too hard to stop (he thought).

That's my call also, Sophia. And that's probably exactly what happened in the infamous case of Mike Tyson as well. These little girls stroll into hotel rooms with these spoiled guys and think they're gonna tease them to the alter or into Tiffany's or something. And then find themselves in a situation that they can't control.
That's why going into hotel rooms with strange men is not a good idea.

And these men pay, and pay, and pay..........

Wasn't there something about her being called to his room in her official capacity?

I think there is still some possibility that this was out-and-out rape -- some flirting, (but that's pretty normal, especially where tips are involved), then going up to his room as VIP treatment for some standard hotel request (extra pillows, whatever).

Not saying I think that's what happened -- I have no idea at this point -- but from what I know, that's still a possibility. (The whole 911 call has made me more suspicious than before, though it could still be a coincidence. Who was injured? Why?)

Two 911 calls sozobe, the first one sent a women to the hospital; second one didn't.

Right, meant to catch that typo, more than one. More than two, I thought...?

Will just wait until this stuff comes out in the trial...

Interesting commentary from Mike Celizic, don't think I fully agree with it, especially since Bryant maybe spending the next 7 years in prison

coincidence!!??
or art imitating life? versa-vice-a??

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/story?id=1596268

Movie completed before Kobe drama started
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES -- Sometimes life really does imitate art. Or the other way around.

A highly respected NBA star's life is turned upside down after a woman accuses him of rape: That's both the story of Kobe Bryant and the plot of an independent film that completed shooting last February, months before Bryant's real-life drama began.

"I was just amazed,'' Jennifer Harper, the film's writer and director, told the Los Angeles Times. "We were calling each other like, 'Can you believe the timing of this?' "

The movie was the brainchild of Portland Trail Blazers center Dale Davis, who hopes to have it sold to a distributor before the upcoming NBA season.

Even more remarkable, Harper said, is that Bryant was the model for the lead character, played by actor Allen Payne.

"In rehearsals, Allen Payne asked, 'What athlete is this based on?' I said, 'Just think of Kobe Bryant,' " Harper said. "He's loved by everybody. He has all the endorsements. That's who this character is.''

Bryant, who turns 25 later this month, was charged July 18 with felony sexual assault of a 19-year-old woman in Colorado.

In the film, Payne plays Cedric Tinsley, a 27-year-old NBA superstar who is the subject of a paternity suit by a woman who threatens to accuse him of rape if he doesn't agree to an out-of-court settlement.

The film's title, "Playas Ball'' refers to the party held during NBA All-Star week that attracts professional athletes and others.

Davis, who financed it for less than $1 million through his Atlanta-based company World Ain't Right Entertainment, said he made it to show how high-profile athletes can be exploited.

"It happens to athletes in general, entertainers in general,'' he told the Times. "Sometimes these are the things you have to go through if you have money, and the extent some people will go through to try and get it.''

He added that he doesn't want to exploit Bryant's situation to publicize the film, but predicted it would make "a huge statement'' considering recent events.

Harper has said the film has "a happy ending,'' and it seems clear Dale is hoping Bryant's life will too.

"I don't think he did it,'' Davis said. "Knowing him and what he stands for, it just doesn't make sense.''

Maybe I'm late but I heard a few days ago that he forced her to have anal sex. She agreed to the vaginal sex but it was the anal part that she did not consent to, hence, the bruises, stitches, and the charge of rape. That's pretty brutal. Anyone else hear about this?

Oy, this just gets worse and sleazier as it goes along.

JMHO:

He's in **** too deep to buy his way out.

It's already cost him $millions$ to placate his wife and mother-in-law. He has a lot of dough, but I don't think it's enough to pay off the plaintiff (and I don't think she's out for the money anyway).

I think his counsel has to roll the dice on a jury trial.

I don't think they plead it out and I think he's going to jail (for at least a short period of time) if they try the case in CO.

If they get a change of venue he may skate, OJ-style. That's their best shot.

Yuck.

Any links, eoe?

That would make sense...