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Kobe Bryant is dead at the age of 41

SFH

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Sty Guy Kamala said:
99% of the people who were like "But KOBE was a Rapist!" are virtue signaling whites.
I got completely ganged up on when I posted something vaguely Kobe passing away related the day after his death. And your observation is spot on, only it was 100% in my case. People I generally agree with 1:1 in social views. Wound up just deleting the post. Once the "R" word gets thrown at someone, regardless of evidence, the accused will never wash that stain off in the eyes of some people. I don't know the answer for how society can respond to things in the news in one direction or the other, but I'm just going to go back to meme spamming jokes on my timeline.
 

geniusMoment

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I think part of the issue is sexual assaults are often much more complicated than what was portrayed on tv shows and movies for years (probably until very recently). It's easy to see the guy in the mask holding a girl down with a knife or gun and know he's the bad guy. It's an open and shut case.

But, in 90% of these cases that isn't what happened. It's a relative taking advantage of someone, it's someone being too drunk to really be able to give consent, it's a situation like Kobe's where there was initially consent, but then it becomes a question of what was being consented to etc...

Throw into that, many times it's very hard for the victim to come forward because of guilt or because they don't want the world to know. And then on top of that, you can say don't prosecute the victim, but that's exactly how the legal system works. The defense is going to try and do everything possible to get their client off, and in the process of this the victim will at the very least have to relive it all over again. This in term makes future victims not want to come forward. But, you also just can't immediately accept the victim at face value and sentence the other party to prison.

Unfortunately sometimes there just isn't an easy solution.

As for Kobe. Outside of the two people in the room no one will ever really know what happened. I will say this isn't a Cosby situation where you know he's guilty because there is so much evidence and history. Do I think he made a mistake that day? Yes. But, that doesn't necessarily mean he raped her. He may have been thinking one thing and her another while whatever happened. It doesn't make her wrong or him right, but the point is rarely are things as clear as they were portrayed in movies.

From all accounts he seemed to grow as a human. I feel he should be remembered for the man he became. But, I understand that a note of what happened will always linger.
 

Precious Roy

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Saints_Fan_H said:
Sty Guy Kamala said:
99% of the people who were like "But KOBE was a Rapist!" are virtue signaling whites.
I got completely ganged up on when I posted something vaguely Kobe passing away related the day after his death. And your observation is spot on, only it was 100% in my case. People I generally agree with 1:1 in social views. Wound up just deleting the post. Once the "R" word gets thrown at someone, regardless of evidence, the accused will never wash that stain off in the eyes of some people. I don't know the answer for how society can respond to things in the news in one direction or the other, but I'm just going to go back to meme spamming jokes on my timeline.

Oh yeah. I'm catching shit for pointing out that it's a 15+ yr old allegation, that was in fact adjudicated in a court of law, before a jury, in Colorado. And as soon as I point out that his money and fame didn't really get him out of it I get shit for that too. He would have bought his way out of it if he could have. He lost his biggest sponsors over it (Adidas, McDonalds, Gatorade etc.) and the trial took place during the season. You think he wanted that shit?

And it's all white females giving me grief of course. If a dude tries giving me shit I'ma slap em in their stupid mouth

I'm also someone who really didn't like Kobe back then, and me and my friends all leaped to the conclusion he was guilty, mostly because we didn't like him. Then the girl changes her story several times, more evidence comes out, etc. and by the end of it I was pretty solidly on his side.

I think it's really shitty that he cheated on his wife, and you know that wasn't the first time. That's a bad mistake, but it's not an unforgivable sin. She forgave him, and she could have dumped his ass and be set for life

We have a serious problem with people who have a guilty until proven innocent mentality in this country. That could probably be a thread on its' own.
 

KOAB

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guilty until proven I can't handle this new information. yall know jerry buss just got him out spending all that money man he even sent those shirts of lynched kobe to the sheriffs in Colorado yo it's all there like an epicstein weinburger ya heard
 

Precious Roy

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one more thing because this is really pissing me off, where were all these people the last decade+? As soon as he isn't around to defend himself they want to drag this shit up again
 

Mickey Massuco

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alkeiper said:
Kobe was flying above Los Angeles in his private helicopter. He seemed to come away from the allegation intact.

I'll preface all this by saying I didn't like Kobe Bryant. He was the 76ers opponent in the 2001 Finals. He always struck me as arrogant and aloof. I acknowledge that I could have been completely wrong on that. We generally don't know who people really are. Then the rape allegation stuff came around and well, of course I knew Kobe was an asshole. This settles it. Like I said, this is all perception.

The rape allegation itself. Victims deserve to be heard. If she believes she was assaulted, then she was assaulted. But I think the world is a little too complicated itself to paint in black and white. Bryant made a mistake. He was obviously not a serial predator. And from what I have read in the aftermath, he seems to have genuinely grown as a person coming out of all that. I'm trying to be as fair as possible. But all the accolades for Kobe as a human being confuse me, to be honest.

I feel like this and a lot of similar posts itt can be addressed by the journalist in the Daily Blast video that 909 posted. She can say it better than I can.
 

King Kamala

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Kobe did seem like he mellowed out a lot once the Shaq feud dissipated from late '00s on. He still seemed very intense but less sociopathic and a better teammate. That's probably just age too.

I don't think there's any bigger sign of that than how (relatively) mellow post 2013, washed era Kobe was. Young Kobe probably would have strangled Robert Sacre and kicked Roy Hibbert in the ding ding but washed Kobe seemed like he handled those shitty teams surprisingly well.
 

King Kamala

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https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1223369668238307328
Moderators, can we temporarily unban still fly for the Kobe Tribute tonight?
 

909

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuhR3kpLTwQ&feature=emb_title

Did not know about this.
 

HarleyQuinn

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Even as a rookie Kobe was so good... crazy how young he was at this time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaJMLnt5bdU
 

King Kamala

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https://twitter.com/NBCSCeltics/status/1231665419695611909
Man, this was such a huge loss that even Bill Russell is wearing purple and gold.
 

909

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I did as soon as Vanessa Bryant started talking. I know if I was her, I would not have been able to do that.
 

King Kamala

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https://twitter.com/PaulStanleyLive/status/1235723945677971457
GOAT KISS MEMBER RESPECTS GOAT LAKER!
 

King Kamala

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https://twitter.com/LakersSBN/status/1260984038879264770
This is the kind of story that really makes me miss Kobe.

(I had no idea Carlos Boozer was still playing in 2015 and had a run on the bummy later Kobe teams)
 

King Kamala

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….what the hell kind of pickup line is that?

"Hey baby. You want to see some photos of Kobe & Gigi Bryant's dead bodies?"
 

King Kamala

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Thanks for bringing up the new release from my close personal friend Jeff Pearlman (Who once compared me to Chris Rock).
 

909

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Seeing this thread title still puts me in a state of shock.

To be honest I feel mad guilty about liking this current team as much as Kobe's teams. I also think about Kobe when watching them play. Eventually I'm gonna have to come to grips with that, but when AD hit that three the other night, everything felt right with the Lakers if only for that brief moment.

I think for the most part, Laker fans won't ever get over this either. The only thing worse is if a family member had died, and it will probably never not be shocking.
 

King Kamala

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Idk why you should feel guilty. If/when they win, they will definitely dedicate the ‘ship to him.

Kobe would be loving the Lakers returning to championship contention if he were aliv.. It is sad to think of all of the fun Braggadocio-us appearances he would have had on the pregame and half time shows.
 

SFH

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These pictures happen more times than I care to discuss. Knowing that a friend's husband was photoed beyond crime scene pissed me off, moreso finding out it was a person I used to respect. Then hearing the crash details when my best friend wrecked, at some point in the disbelief/rage phase I remembered the photos that were taken of my friend's husband and realized someone probably took photos of my best friend's corpse roasting on the highway. So yeah, pretty much assume anytime someone of note passes away, some dipshit has their iphone out. Anytime one of us dies in some unusual gory manner, same.

Further personal aside: if you lose someone in a gory accident, and you're offered the opportunity to read the report or meet with an EMT that helped out, don't read the report, don't ask too many questions.
 
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