Applying strawman to your arguments discredits your point of view. No where did he say the highlighted part in his post, seems like his premise is, don’t throw stones if you don’t know the facts and if you aren’t ready to be judged in the same light.
Amen to this. It's just people who want to virtue signal and act like they were in the room when it happened. The reality is that none of us knows what happened, and that case was a big enough mess to bring into question both Kobe's and the victim's version of events. The victim got paid, Kobe got to keep out of jail, his family and coworkers (and frankly, the vast majority of the public) forgave him, and everyone moved on. There's no indication that he ever did this again. The fact that it happened is a part of his story, as it should be. But the classless people who feel its appropriate to bring this up repeatedly at this point in time are exactly as you put it - useless edge lords with an agenda to be purposefully disrespectful to Kobe and his family. As you said, I guess it makes them feel big or important or something, but its honestly its nothing more than a great indicator of who has zero social awareness and tact. So what if two or three people here have a chip on the shoulder? The rest of us have long since forgiven him because (assuming he even did anything illegal) a single low moment does not reflect one's character if he or she fixes the problem.
So many families destroyed by this crash and an Icon in this world lost because of an arrogant pilot who wanted to be f-cking Superman and do something that even the LAX choppers weren’t willing to do. But of course he wanted to be a big shot and try to impress a big time celebrity like Kobe and his friends and challenge Mother Nature. Just an absolute f-cking moron and a tragedy that could have been prevented.
At the gym I workout at in Irvine, they advertise that "Kobe Bryant has been seen working out here". I use to always hope he'd be in there while I was working out so I could tell him we had something in common (same birthday) lol. Even better for everyone is to not respond to malakas, nook, and any others who show how little they care or empathize with people for someone who died less than 24 hours ago.
Rumors? No they are facts. His version and her version are remarkably similar. The damage to her anus is a fact. The blood from her anus is real. Her need for long and substantial counseling is true. He apologized for his behavior, he said he believed her when she said she did not give him consent and he said he did not believe that she was doing it for money. Those are his own words. If you admire his competitive nature and why he did on the court, no issues... when you cross over into him being a good person, then it is fair game to point out he was a rapist.
If that gives you comfort, Vanessa and the other family won't go on or visit bball bulletin boards........if that makes you feel better. I think posters are saying, "Give us at least a few days....." It is just us bickering in here.
What a loss! There is no anyone working so hard to improve his game, plus that his IQ is so high for a NBA player, his family is so great. Just a sad for a normal NBA fan!
I won't go as far as calling the pilot arrogant, it could have well been Kobe pushing the pilot to go to make it to his scheduled event on-time and pilot not having the strength to say no. How about let's wait until we see an NTSB report to see what led to the decision of making this flight.
Seems like for some posters here rape is so commonplace that to judge Kobe we have to give our full name and prove we aren't rapists too. Is this what's going on in Houston? Men are going around annally raping women like another day in the office? If you are caught and accused , big deal you pay some money and then demand that it never gets mentioned again like it never happened?
Here in the U.S.A we tend to allow the court of law to do its thing before accepting accusations as matter of fact. Maybe where you come from accusations are just as good as the truth but that's not the case here. I'm sorry you have to live in a country were someone's word is good enough to ruin your reputation.
For what it's worth, an incredibly cynical detective I once knew in a LE organization in California, claimed the following pair of statements were true. (He probably should have been put out to pasture before this point.): 1. Most sex crimes aren't reported. 2. Most sexual assault complainants are lying. I am not that jaded. I think Nook has the right of it about what happened. Hell of a basketball player.
It seems a few posters want to re-litigate a criminal matter that was dismissed nearly 16 years ago, all within 24 hours of the dude's passing. Ladies and gents, if this is not an agenda, I don't know what it is.
I doubt that Kobe would risk his daughter’s life as well as the other kids and their families lives. In either case the pilot is the Professional and needs to go by his Expertise and Common Sense and not be swayed by emotions. It’s like me trying to tell my Surgeon how to perform the surgery. I’m not trained regardless of what I may say or think.
And none of these bozos mention the other 8 that perished as well. I could see right through these clowns I swear man.
Shouldn't there be regulations? Helicopters can't be treated like taxis where you can fly in all weather. Shouldn't there be a no fly weather rule apply when it's so foggy? Shouldn't all private pilots like that be IFR qualified? It isn't only a danger to the passengers but also to all the people in the area, having a helicopter crash on their heads and houses.
Rape isn’t a crime that is properly recognized in society (mostly by males). Due to the fact that rape is so common, many people sweep it under the rug. Unfortunately this thread only accentuated that point with posters claiming they would hit a female poster, calling rape a “mistake”, comparing a rapist to MLK and asking other posters if they have had sex with women without consent (as if it is a common or acceptable behavior). Someone pointing out that Kobe perhaps wasn’t a great family man or person because he raped a 19 year old girl turned into a long pity party about how it shouldn’t be discussed. I was a federal prosecutor for a decade. I have seen what violent crimes by predators do to victims. There is sadly still a lot of ignorance in the world. I’m done with this tread.
Last thing I will say is this: even if you believe Kobe raped that woman - which can mean many things, it doesn't mean he was forcing himself onto her while she screamed no - why does that equate to him not being a good family man? And secondly: who are we to judge him on anything? His actions speak louder than words and if people around him say he's a good family man then who are we? Human beings are flawed by design and there's a lot of grey area in a lot of our behaviour: words we say, how we behave in our relationships, our behaviour online as opposed to in face-to-face human interaction, what we say behind closed doors and to people, and so forth. It's all part of the different roles we play, the level of ego at play. That's for regular people and that grey area becomes even trickier for people who are famous. We cannot even begin to understand the amount of attention they get, what women will do to get with famous men, what they say they will do or allow a guy to do etc. Then there's temptations, desires, levels of addiction etc. Who knows what went on between Kobe and that woman, all we know is he was never found guilty. And honestly, even if he was guilty, it does not take away from how he was a father, a husband and as a person since. How do we know what he did behind closed doors to apologise, amend for his mistakes he made to get him in the situation with that woman etc? We could all learn from being more humble, stop judging and admit we all have flaws and we should try understanding rather than taking a superior stance, which is never constructive. Especially when people are trying to mourn, grieve and share feelings about a man who just died in a tragic accident alongside his daughter and another family. The level of how inappropriate some of the people on this board have and continue to behave makes me a bit worried, because what if they really believe it is okay to behave this way in real life?
