Kobe.

Kobe, Kobe, Kobe. Please tell us you didn’t grab that little girl’s butt while you were relaxing in Colorado. Please tell us that you didn’t let a little harmless flirtation turn into a sexual assault charge. Please tell us that you had nothing to do with the 19 year old woman, and that this whole thing has been a set-up from the start. Kobe?

This has nothing to do with your formidable basketball skills, you know that right? This has nothing to do with your three championship rings, your scoring records or even your now-on-hold multi-million dollar Nike contract. This is all about the fate of black men across the nation. You were an inspirational figure: clean cut, polite, well-behaved. You had no children out of wedlock. You married early and quietly. You seem to be a genuinely good guy. If it all turns out to be a sham, a manufactured image, then just watch: the reputations of good black men in every state will be called into question. Bigots will have a field day.

“I told you all along they can’t be trusted, ESPECIALLY the nice ones.”

The problem is this, Kobe. You made a mistake. Hopefully, you didn’t make a big mistake and actually do what you’ve been charged with. But unfortunately, you made the seemingly small mistake of being in a position to be compromised. Now it’s international front page news. Did you or didn’t you?

The spin has already started on the woman’s side. An article in today’s Los Angeles Times has begun the process of painting the woman as “a friendly, wholesome young woman” who lives at home with her loving parents. Her friends have described her as “funloving, outgoing and emotional”.

Kobe, Kobe, Kobe. I don’t think you did it, but it doesn’t really matter what I think.

More later…
Paul