The Dark Side Of A Star

If Kobe Bryant had not yet become the next Michael Jordan he was most assuredly not Allen Iverson, and for that most NBA fans were grateful and bestowed on him much love. The Los Angeles Lakers' 24-year-old superstar cooperated with the media after games, smiled warmly and was polite to fans, rarely mouthed off to opponents or referees, and preferred conventional coiffure to cornrows. Bryant maximized his breathtaking talent on the court and his marketing power off it, but when the cameras were off he provided only glimpses of himself, shutting out the world behind designer shades, an often haughty demeanor and his insistence that his private life was just that. We knew only as much about this 6'7" child of fortune as he wanted us to know.

That is no longer the case.

By his own admission, Bryant, the married father of a six-month-old daughter, is an adulterer. And in the view of district attorney Mark Hurlbert and other Eagle County, Colo., authorities he is something far worse: a felon who around midnight on June 30 sexually assaulted a 19-year-old woman in a hotel room, a charge that Bryant forcefully denies, and one that carries a prison sentence of four years to life.

It seems naive in the extreme to profess amazement that a professional athlete might have extramarital sex, given the privileges of the lifestyle, the ease with which the stars attract women, and the fact that so many high-profile males (a president, for one) have been unfaithful. While some who never bought into Bryant's squeaky-clean persona were still surprised by the allegation of violence, others have long believed he has a darker side. The excavation of his life and character has begun.

"Kobe is an extremely cold and calculating man," says a source close to Bryant in the Lakers' organization who requested anonymity. But the Bryant on display at a press conference last Friday at the Staples Center appeared to be vulnerable and apprehensive, even during those moments when he insisted that the sex in the Colorado hotel room was consensual. Bryant prides himself on his steely composure, but he had to choke back tears and, before 100 reporters, including one from Celebrity Justice, admit in a quavering voice that he had strayed. "I sit here before you guys furious at myself, disgusted at myself for making the mistake of adultery," Bryant said, shaking his head and pursing his lips, trying to stay in control as his 21-year-old wife, Vanessa, gripped his hand and stared into his eyes.

Bryant is scheduled to be arraigned in Eagle County on Aug. 6, and if the case proceeds, he will probably stand trial in Colorado next year. The court of public opinion, meanwhile, has already convened. Assuming that Bryant will be clothed in Lakers purple and gold at the start of the 2003-04 season—the NBA has already said he will be allowed to play while the case is pending—he will have to tune out the barbs from fans who have seen him torch their teams over his seven seasons. How he bears up will go a long way toward deciding the fate of a franchise that last Thursday held an upbeat press conference to announce the signing of free agents Karl Malone and Gary Payton, a serendipitous one-two that many believed would return Los Angeles to championship form.

The media affair at the arena 31� hours later was, by contrast, somber and strange—dramatic because the Bryants' appearance was a surprise, riveting because of the severity of the charges facing Kobe, jarring because of his affirmations of love to his wife ("You're a piece of my heart, you're the air I breathe"). Bryant's lead lawyer, Pamela Mackey, said the evidence pointed to her client's innocence, while L.A. general manager Mitch Kupchak issued a statement of the team's support but did not speak.

As of Monday none of the major companies for which Bryant endorses products ( Nike, Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Spalding) had pulled out of their deals with him—he earns a reported $20 million a year off the court—even though disreputable behavior can result in the cancellation of such contracts. In 1997 Converse terminated its four-year, $32 million deal with Latrell Sprewell after he choked P.J. Carlesimo, his coach with the Golden State Warriors.

Separating fact from fiction is never easy with superstar athletes. Their exploits between the lines make them heroic; their carefully constructed corporate images make them iconic. There is Kobe leading the Lakers to titles in 2000, '01 and '02, then scoring 40-plus points in nine consecutive games last season. There is Kobe, in a McDonald's commercial, stopping at a playground to shoot hoops with kids. There is Kobe, in a spot for Sprite, grunting through a sweat-soaked free-weight workout. For Bryant and the companies trading on him, these images of the man, in effect, become the man himself. At 10 p.m. on June 30, Bryant, accompanied by three, as of Monday, unidentified men, checked into the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera, a 56-room resort located halfway between the small town of Eagle and the ski resort of Vail. He was scheduled to have arthroscopic surgery on his right knee at the Steadman Hawkins Clinic in Vail the next day. While working at the lodge's front desk, the alleged victim, a receptionist and concierge, reportedly spoke with Bryant. Between 11:13 and midnight she went to his room and stayed for an undetermined length of time. While she was alone with Bryant, the alleged sexual assault occurred.

The alleged victim's name had not been reported as of Monday, but her identity was well known to her 3,000 fellow citizens of Eagle and to the members of the press camped in front of her parents' two-story house, which sits on a cul-de-sac and overlooks the town. Among the details about her background that the media had reported at week's end: She was a cheerleader and choirgirl at Eagle Valley High. She tried out for American Idol last November—her song was Forgive, by Rebecca Lynn Howard—in Austin. She has completed her freshman year at Northern Colorado.