Tough to Know the Real Story

I guess Kobe forgot he has four rings. One of them is a wedding ring.

Tom Spence

Fillmore

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So now we get to know “the real Kobe.” Look, we have been watching Kobe for the last seven years. We have watched him grow up before our eyes on a very public stage, and seen his ups and downs, triumphs and travails.

We have seen him lead quite a remarkable life. Now we have seen him admit a terrible mistake, followed by a public confession for failing to live up to his own standards. Does this now cancel out everything we’ve come to know about him? Now we must redefine Kobe as a sinister monster who has maliciously conspired to deceive us for all these years? Just possibly, he might have always been the same Kobe, a combination of virtues and faults, strengths and weaknesses like all the rest of us. Why is it so hard to look at the sum of Kobe’s life to define “the real Kobe”?

Mike Schermerhorn

North Hills

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I am so sick and tired of hearing people say, “Well, we really don’t know Kobe.” The problem is that most of us really don’t know each other, period. There are people who have no idea that their spouses are cheating on them as you read this letter. There are people who have no clue that one of their loving relatives is a substance abuser. There are people who don’t realize that their best friend is stealing money from them.

Today’s superstar athlete is under such a microscope that we can’t help having an opinion about a person’s character, and most of the time the opinions that we form are pretty accurate. I don’t need to know Mother Teresa personally to tell you that I would be shocked to hear that she stole money from the Catholic church. I can tell you that I wouldn’t be surprised if you told me that Mike Tyson beat up some guy at a nightclub.

It’s true that we really don’t know Kobe, but we do have a pretty good idea.

Alvin M. Okamura

Encino

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Bill Plaschke’s July 19 column on the decision to file charges against Kobe Bryant was sensationalist journalism at its worst.

In reality, nothing about the Bryant case had changed -- before July 18, he was accused of a crime, and after July 18, he was accused of a crime. Plaschke, though, presented the allegations as if they were facts.

Eventually, Plaschke acknowledged that “the sexual assault charge is only a charge,” but then he immediately followed that statement with “it involves a young district attorney who, after two weeks of deliberation, is willing to bet his career that he has the physical evidence.”

Wow! So that’s it then, right, Bill? The D.A. thinks he has a case, so we should now presume that Kobe is guilty? I guess we can just bypass the necessity for a judge, jury and a trial, since the D.A. is sure. According to Bill, we can throw away our entire justice system. I wonder if Plaschke would sing a different tune if he ever were to be accused of a crime.

Michael Bartlett

Culver City

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Your July 21 article stated, “The Los Angeles Times has a policy not to identify alleged victims of sexual assault in most cases.” However, I believe the Kobe Bryant case is one where you should make an exception.

I feel that a woman who visits a man’s hotel room in the late hours of the night is not really entitled to anonymity or respect. Furthermore, I believe that her actions in such a situation imply consent.

Jane Gallic

Marina del Rey

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When Chick Hearn died last year, many Angelenos said he was taken too early. In hindsight, I am thankful that Chick did not have to witness the 2002-2003 Lakers and their totally uninspired brand of basketball.

But I am most thankful that no one had to break it to Chick that his favorite Laker son, Kobe Bryant, is definitely a lousy husband and possibly a rapist. That news would have broken Chickie’s heart.

Mike Rizzo

Pasadena

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Kobe Bryant has three NBA championships, is worth more than $100 million, and is a father and husband. He’s also 24. For the media to put so much pressure on a man so young to act as a perfect citizen is ridiculous.

He made a mistake. He also turned himself in, stood in front of a suspecting media and confronted the allegations, like a man. While Bryant was winning three consecutive championships, nobody seemed to mind his off-the-court persona; now it is scrutinized on every major cable network. When Kobe is proved innocent, I hope that everyone who has taken part in ripping his reputation is equally adamant about saying they are sorry.

Matt Faust

Goleta

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To believe that this was the first such encounter for Bryant taxes credulity, at least mine. This particular encounter just happened to end badly, really badly.

Bryant is a bright, gifted young man who also appears to walk through the world with some deeply embedded notion of “privilege,” not unlike his predecessor, Michael Jordan, for whom I have little regard aside from his basketball prowess.

Bryant is still young, though, and has the chance to evolve and mature. Hopefully he will. In the meantime he has caught the tiger by the tail and he’s going to have to deal with it. Good luck to him, but frankly, this fan isn’t going to lose any sleep over his plight.

Bink Goncharoff

Santa Barbara

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Kobe, you say you’re “just a man like everybody else.” A man is somebody who demonstrates his values and priorities with his actions, not with idle words. Somebody who earns others’ respect and belief in him. Somebody who makes promises and keeps them. A little boy may make a promise, but then something else catches his eye and looks like it might be fun, so the boy does that instead, even though it means breaking his word.

So now, two years after marriage, six short months after the birth of your child, you have sex with another young woman barely into adulthood, allegedly by force, and only confess to it when the authorities have you dead to rights.

The one thing you definitely are not is a man.

Jordan Chodorow

Los Angeles

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Many of us have seen Kobe perform wonderfully on the basketball court. Likewise, we have seen his sparkling commercials, and the positive contributions he has made to children and to charities. However, none of us are witness to his sexual activity.

Given that there are lines, however conflicting, that separate basic consensual sex from rough sex from sexual assault, the only valid opinion in this case remains with the jury.

There are lots of us who like Kobe; we’re simply not qualified to comment on what he does (or did) behind closed doors.

Vincent Campos

Alhambra

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As the whole world continues to give its opinions and comments on Kobe’s image as well as his innocence, I would just like to give my regards to Vanessa Bryant for her bravery and her strong will as a young woman.

Mark A. Azurin

Long Beach

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At the end of the article “Athletes Part of Violent Trend” [July 19], Kathy Redmond, founder of the National Coalition Against Violent Athletes in Littleton, Colo., stated, “We need to get out there and start educating people. I don’t have a lot of hope that will happen.”

I assume the “people” she is talking about are men. Why not educate the females? Before my dating days, my parents educated me on the dos and don’ts of dating, making me aware of consequences of my actions. My father told me not to place myself in compromising situations with my dates.

Kobe Bryant must now face the consequences of his actions and take responsibility for his actions. I believe his accuser must also take responsibility for her actions.

Patricia Ziegler

Pomona

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The only weight issue for the Lakers this upcoming season is the weight Kobe will be carrying on his shoulders rather than the weight Shaq will be carrying up and down the court.

J.J. Matis

Sherman Oaks

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As I have said before, “Kobe needs to learn to pass.” On the court and now off the court as well.

Randy Wilcox

Downey

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