Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bean Bryant (born August 23, 1978) is an NBA basketball player. Bryant is the son of NBA player Joe Jellybean Bryant and his wife Pamela Cox, sister of NBA player John Chubby Cox.Bryant entered the NBA at the age of 18 after a spectacular high school career in the Philadelphia Main Line suburb of Lower Merion, and was originally selected by the Charlotte Hornets but never played for the team. Within weeks of being drafted, he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. Though young and somewhat introverted, Bryant's immense talent made an immediate impression with his teammates on the practice court, although he has occasionally clashed with Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal.
Bryant's career trajectory as an NBA player out of high school has been exceptional. By 24 years of age, Bryant had won many individual awards, and had been named to the All-NBA team multiple times. He is regarded as one of the best players in the NBA. Bryant helped the Los Angeles Lakers to three NBA championships.
Bryant's youth, style, good looks and accomplishments on the basketball have made him one of the most popular and most marketable players in the NBA. He speaks fluent Italian and Spanish; he spent much of his childhood in Italy when his father played professional basketball there.
He married Vanessa Cornejo Ubrieta Laine on April 18, 2001 in Dana Point, California. Kobe's father Joe Jellybean Bryant broke relations with his son because he objected to his marriage.
The couple's daughter Natalia was born on January 19, 2003.
Note: Due to concerns over privacy the name of the alleged victim is not being included in this article at this time.
In July 2003, a 19-year old Colorado woman levelled an accusation of rape at the popular basketball player. The case created additional controversy when some news media outlets chose to break with convention by publicly releasing her name.
An employee of a Edwards, Colorado hotel, the woman alleged that Bryant sexually assulted her in his hotel room. Bryant was officially charged on July 17, 2003, and arrested, but was soon released on bail; he admitted to having sex with the woman, but maintained that the intercourse was consensual.
Bryant's lawyers agressively pursued the case, going as far as to attempt to obtain the woman's medical records, to admit evidence on her sexual history, and to force her to testify at the trial when the prosecution claimed that previously recorded statements and other evidence were sufficient. The prosecution countered with accusations that the defence had made a "conscious misrepresentation of the evidence in order to smear the victim publicly." Bryant attorney Pamela Mackey stated the alleged victim's name in open court six times, after being order by judge Frederick Gannett not to do so.
The young woman was also the recipient of several death threats from Bryant supporters.
Patrick Graber, a Swiss bodybuilder, solicited Bryant offering to committ murder for hire; he was apprehended on 18 September 2003. On 20 August 2003, Iowa resident John William Roche was indicted for leaving an intimidating message on the accuser's answering machine.
Although traditionally, mainstream news media outlets have refused to divulge the names of alleged rape victims, because of the high profile of the Bryant case, her name quickly became known and widely circulated on the internet. Address details and photographs, a number of which were inaccurate or belonged to women other than the actual accuser, were also widely distributed online. Although most news outlets refused to divulge her identity, the tabloid newspaper The Globe printed the woman's name and picture on its front cover. On 16 September 2003, the office of the Colorado's Office of the State Court Administrator accidentally posted a document on their website which divulged her full name and address; the document was retracted within the hour and placed online again in a heavily edited form. [1].
The release of the woman's name, which rape victim advocacy groups have claimed is an intimidation tactic on the part of the Bryant defense, has generated siginificant controversy within the news media. However, skeptics have suggested that her accusations were designed simply as a publicity stunt or an attempt to earn a substantial financial settlement, and complained that the traditional (abelit informal) protection afforded rape victims is unfair because it denies the defendent the right to publicly confront his accuser.Rape accusation