A fitting tribute.

#1 Thank you! I thought so too!

Just shows the divide between countries most people in the UK had never heard of him.

#3 Yes, true, especially in sports. The special thing about him is that he made it into the NBA, National Basketball Association, right out of high school, which is somewhat unusual. But you have the Premier League, which absolutely rocks, and is becoming more and more peopler over here!

#3 I have to say Thunders that I don't like all this hero worshipping for sports people. They get paid stupid money, have a short career, live in absolute luxury and everyone thinks they are gods. In my world they would get paid an average wage probably about the same as a hospital cleaner and they would need to get another job when their career was over. Same goes for musicians and actors mine would be a fairer more balanced world.

It is a sad commentary on society when a ball player (grownups playing a child's game) is worth $600 million dollars, and revered as a hero, and people can't even name our greatest veterans and scientists, who's contributions literally change the world. And they will never be wealthy or even get proper funding or just compensation. P.S. I didn't bother watching the video.

#1 I totally agree with you, I think we need to stop the world and start again.

In all of the over-the-top media attention about this man, people seem to have conveniently forgotten his rape trial in 2003.

In all of the over-the-top media attention about this man, people seem to have conveniently forgotten his rape trial in 2003.

#9 Was he found guilty?

Martin Luther King was a hero.
A man of intellect, a critical thinker who could see the dysfunction, articulate it and espouse solutions.
Successfully throwing a ball into a hoop does not advance civilization one iota.
If fact it regresses it, giving the impression that being articulate with a ball is something to aspire to and an end in itself.
To keep their empire on track, the Romans knew they needed 2 things - Bread and Circuses.
Keep the masses fed and keep them distracted.
The current paucity of decent statesmen is a reflection of this age.
Keep the masses distracted with talent shows, sport and fantasy entertainment.
We elevate spectacle and we assassinate our heroes.
And all the while, the empire is crumbling........

#10. From wiki:

The woman accused Bryant of raping her in his hotel room on July 1. She filed a police report and authorities questioned Bryant about bruising on the accuser's neck. Bryant admitted to a sexual encounter with his accuser but insisted the sex was consensual. The case was dropped after Bryant's accuser refused to testify in the case. A separate civil suit was later filed against Bryant by the woman. This was settled out of court and included Bryant publicly apologizing to his accuser, the public, and family, while denying the allegations.

So he paid her off. Would he have done so if he was innocent? Would you?

#11 I'm sure the masses could be kept just as distracted without paying the distractors so much bloody money, If you are good at a sport and got a regular wage for playing it, surly it is better than working in an office.

#12 I'd like to think I wouldn't put myself in that position in the first place, was he married at the time? In which case he committed adultery at the very least.

#13. Kobe married Vanessa Cornejo Urbieta in April 2001. Three years later he was admitting to adultery and paying off a woman he sexually assaulted when she was 19 years old. Court documents revealed the woman had bruises on her neck and tears on her vaginal wall. Hardly the Mr. Wonderful we've seen portrayed in the media. I don't care how well he could throw a ball through a hoop, the man was a shit.

#5 "...mine would be a fairer more balanced world." Fair according to you? Perhaps it wouldn't be so fair nor a world people would like to live in. As much as I dislike sports and entertainment, it's called choice. What isn't particularly our cup of tea is for others.

#11 luckily we have the internet (SNOTR) and social media to distract those of us that don't like sports and entertainment.

#13 Well then, be happy he's dead I guess. Certain women, when it comes to celebrities, put themselves into play. They shouldn't be harmed, but playing loose and fast often has it's downside.

#5 I understand what you were saying, JJ, I feel like that about movie stars too, and most of them are so vain and full of themselves it's disgusting. When it comes to football (real football) I'm a little biased and not very objective, because I love football with all my heart and love to watch it when I have time. I also agree with you, the world should be a fairer place for all. I don't have the answers, other than just trying to be kind and understanding oneself in oneself's little environment, and even that is not always easy.

I, as a woman, am the last one to justify rape in any way, but I hate to say it, there are plenty of women out there who will play men as much as they can as long as it involves money and sex and later put the blame on them, as #15 meant it, if I understood correctly. As a woman if you put yourself in harms way, don't be surprised if harm will happen, and again I'm not saying it's the all the woman's fault, but by sure it's not always all the man's fault either.

#16 Yes, exactly.

#16 The phrase 'putting yourself in harms way' conjures up an image of someone perhaps walking blindfolded on a cliff edge, or stepping out in front of a bus. It's a phrase I would never associate with a woman being in the company of a man, no matter how famous he may be.

Maybe you'll see things differently the day you smile at a man and he misinterprets the smile for a sexual advance, overpowers you and fucks you violently before throwing you out of the room, claiming afterwards that you both simply had consensual sex.

#18 They shouldn't be raped, but let's be adults here. Would you tell encourage your daughter to :

- go back stage and meet the band?

- hitchhike?

- get drunk/high until you lose all control of yourself?

- dress overtly sexual?

- hangout in areas where it's known to be "meat markets"?

- have an unhealthy affection for men with power or wealth?

- meet with a man alone who's promising to assist you in your career?

- etc, etc.

Or would you tell her the truth about these situations and caution her against them?

There's a lot of good men out there, but it only takes one. Russian Roulette.

#18 That's like saying I won't fly on a plane again because 4 years ago one crashed and everyone died, an extreme ocurrence.
Yes it's terrible when it happens that a man interprets your smile as being willing to have sex and then rapes you, but that is also a extreme rare occurrence. By putting yourself in harms way means more than just a friendly smile at a man.
And it's not as if men are also very much at risk too to be violated by women in a different way, women who take them only for sex, status, and money, and when they have it, break their heart and dump them.
There are tons of good men out there, so one bad one should not represent all of them.

#20 We seem to have strayed a bit from my initial issue with this video and the nauseating outpouring of grief surrounding this man's death. But the final sentence of your last comment brings us full circle. Yes, there are many good men out there. And I agree, one bad one should not represent all of them. But was Kobe one of the good guys or one of the bad?

You clearly seem to think he was wonderful and beyond reproach, with your childlike adulation of the man lending weight to eager excuses for his violent actions. I do not, and neither does the woman he brutally raped and then paid off so she wouldn't sully his career.

Some people are easily fooled. You appear to be one of them.

#21 It's one thing to be walking down the street and be attacked and raped. I think it's quite another to put yourself into "play".
If she hadn't, she wouldn't have been raped (at least by Kobe). It's also reported she had soiled underwear with another man's DNA when she showed up for her rape test. Again, not at all OK to rape a woman, but if you're a player hanging out with players, your odds of getting stung go up dramatically.

Personal responsibility resides on both sides. That's just common sense. It's not adulation.