HOME | POLITICS | SPORTS | LIFE | SCI/TECH | OPEDS | HELPFUL TIPS
|
July 22, 2003 He is one of those celebrities, like Michael or Magic or Tiger, who can be recognized by only one name. He lives in a world where countless people give him sycophantic feedback. He has more money that most of us can imagine. He is a famous professional athlete, and NBA star. There are ways in which he is insulated from the real world and ways in which the world is intrusive beyond the normal. Kobe Bryant is for all practical purposes royalty. You don’t know Kobe Bryant. You know who he is said to be, primarily by people who profit from his existence. He is accused of sexual assault and thousands of people proclaim his innocence. They do so, for the most part, out of ignorance. Only two people know what happened that night and they will be giving evidence in a criminal case. Both of them will suffer from this experience. Kobe is now a professed adulterer and possibly a criminal. She will be portrayed as an opportunist and every little phase of her entire life will be thoroughly scrutinized by Kobe’s high-priced defense team. This is the way of rape cases, but this one is magnified because of Kobe’s celebrity status. Kobe Bryant had just inked a deal to represent Nike for around $45 million dollars. This incident has called that contract into question. Other advertisers like Sprite will likely keep Bryant’s ads off the air while this is being resolved. Kobe Bryant needs his accuser to be discredited and needs to be totally exonerated to be able to keep endorsement dollars rolling in. Rape cases come down to the credibility of the two parties when, as has happened here, the accused rapist acknowledges that sex had occurred. We can expect the accuser’s life to be torn to shreds by the Kobe team if they can possibly do it. This situation is terribly uncomfortable for the NBA and the Lakers as well. New Laker Gary Payton is facing an assault charge from an incident that occurred last season. Stars like Jerry Stackhouse and Chris Webber have made recent headlines for their criminal activities. Drugs and Immorality have become a theme of the NBA these days. It has been estimated that there is one illegitimate child for every NBA player in the NBA today. A prominent sports agent has said that he spends more time on child support negotiations than contract negotiations. It is not surprising that young athletes, great physical specimens with boatloads of money, would be attractive to women. It should not surprise anyone when there are prices to be paid for living an amoral lifestyle. It should therefore not surprise anyone when Kobe Bryant has to admit having sex outside of marriage with a stranger. Stupidity enjoys hanging around with fame and fortune. If Kobe was your cousin, the family would be outraged over his treatment of his wife. What kind of guy with a new wife and a young baby plays around with other women? If he was your brother-in-law you would want to punch him. If he was your best friend, you would be on his case for being such a jerk. But being a celebrity, there will be a legion of followers who will loudly proclaim his innocence in this case. Will Kobe be jailed? One could speculate that the young District Attorney who brought the charges must have very compelling evidence to tilt at such a large windmill as Kobe. Spun another way, it is the DA’s chance for the limelight and he doesn’t have enough evidence to convict. Is she a gold-digger, and extortionist, a mental case? Or is she a victim with the courage to stand up and try to take on a national sports icon? We don’t and can’t know that. But whether Kobe is found guilty or not guilty, the one thing he was not and never will be is innocent. ------------ About the author Kimbal Ross Binder: Erstwhile gym-rat, former independent driven by disgust for the Democratic Party into the arms of the Republicans, current parent and expert at puns, jokes that make people groan and eating Debbie's cooking. Mr Binder lives out in the boondocks of NW Indiana. Email Kimbal Ross Binder: radar@eternalisp.com Comment on this column in the forum. ------------ |
||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
