OT: Other Colorado Sports: Broncos, Nuggets, Rockies...II

[Avsboy]

OMG, Kobe Bryant just died in a helicopter crash

And it was the day after LeBron overtook him in all-time points, as well

Very sad day

 

[Spleenless Wonder21]

Sounds like his 2nd oldest daughter was also among the victims in the crash.

 

[MonsterMack]

Awful, awful news

 

[dahrougem2]

My favourite athlete growing up. Sad day

 

[Pokecheque]

Just don't have the words...

 

[Mighty Makar]

RIP, Kobe!

 

[Mighty Makar]

 

[The Merchant]

Damn.

 

[Hasbro]

This should be the one place we don't have to pretend like he wasn't a scumbag.

 

[Pokecheque]

This should be the one place we don't have to pretend like he wasn't a *******.

I’ll admit I didn’t care much for the guy for a number of reasons but I can see why he inspired entire generations of NBA players. The legacy he leaves behind is a complicated one for sure.

 

[UncleRisto]

This should be the one place we don't have to pretend like he wasn't a *******.

Two children and two parents of also other children were killed.

 

[Hasbro]

Two children and two parents of also other children were killed.

Who deserve to memorialized. Doesn’t change the fact he had his lawyers bully his accuser and break out the OJ playbook to get him out of serving time.

 

[UncleRisto]

Who deserve to memorialized. Doesn’t change the fact he had his lawyers bully his accuser and break out the OJ playbook to get him out of serving time.

Well, I know dude. And it's unfair in a way that all-time greats in sports get passes and get remembered for their sporting accomplishments in comparison to just random nobodies. No one cares if four randos die. But this is the world we live in.

Waiting for the Bills highlight package when OJ kicks the bucket. (It's coming.)

 

[Babel Salamander]

I don't think the sexual assault allegations should be stricken from the record. I mean, let's face it, it basically already has been. The line between "not the time" and "never the time" doesn't exist. At the same time human grief doesn't need to be complicated... someone is either grieving or they are not. Celebrity death affects more people than non-celeb death... I get it. This one did take some strange turns though... like all the people angry that the NBA didn't cancel all the games yesterday. It's like this was 9/11. Michael Malone compared the cultural impact of this death to JFK and MLK. That seems a bit much. John Lennon would be a good comparison.

 

[Pokecheque]

John Lennon would be a good comparison.

And a ton of people continue to gloss over Lennon's awful behavior as well, so I suppose that's fitting.

 

[Hasbro]

Well, I know dude. And it's unfair in a way that all-time greats in sports get passes and get remembered for their sporting accomplishments in comparison to just random nobodies. No one cares if four randos die. But this is the world we live in.

Waiting for the Bills highlight package when OJ kicks the bucket. (It's coming.)

They reissued his number recently.

 

[AW8]

I was not the biggest fan of Kobe as a player. He is however a pretty good redemption story. What happened in 2003 is a lot of he said she said. He just had surgery on his knee so walking around was not much of a thing at the time. He still absolutely could be guilty, at the minimum he cheated on his fiance. However as he grew in age, he changed as a person. He very much tried to an ambassador of the game. He helped other players on other teams to grow and mature. He was very involved in promoting the growth of women's sports (especially basketball). For that he can be respected.

 

[The Abusement Park]

I was not the biggest fan of Kobe as a player. He is however a pretty good redemption story. What happened in 2003 is a lot of he said she said. He just had surgery on his knee so walking around was not much of a thing at the time. He still absolutely could be guilty, at the minimum he cheated on his fiance. However as he grew in age, he changed as a person. He very much tried to an ambassador of the game. He helped other players on other teams to grow and mature. He was very involved in promoting the growth of women's sports (especially basketball). For that he can be respected.

Yeah from the outside it does seem like he grew and changed for the better as he got older. I think he did some bad stuff when he was young and it does look like he changed for the better which is commendable. Even if behind the scenes he didn't change much, it's horrible that such a tragic accident happened and 9 people have lost their lives.

 

[UncleRisto]

They reissued his number recently.

Oh, the Bills did? That's probably good, his PR isn't super great right now.

 

[Pokecheque]

I was not the biggest fan of Kobe as a player. He is however a pretty good redemption story. What happened in 2003 is a lot of he said she said. He just had surgery on his knee so walking around was not much of a thing at the time. He still absolutely could be guilty, at the minimum he cheated on his fiance. However as he grew in age, he changed as a person. He very much tried to an ambassador of the game. He helped other players on other teams to grow and mature. He was very involved in promoting the growth of women's sports (especially basketball). For that he can be respected.

Redemption? Get the hell out of here with that garbage. He never really apologized for the incident, he merely expressed some regret and tacitly admitted (only AFTER the charges were dropped) that the encounter may not have been consensual.

Kobe Bryant was a great basketball player who also admitted to sexual assault

Just because he did some good in the community does not mean he made up for sexual assault. I'm not even sure how one does that, but I do know he didn't do much to make up for it other than have his lawyers bully the living hell out of the accuser until she recanted her statement and later accepted a financial settlement. His fans did far worse, and fans continue to do this whenever a prominent celebrity is accused of sexual misconduct.

 

[dahrougem2]

Not even going to bother getting into any of that. Kobe was my favourite athlete of all time, yesterday was an incredibly sad day.

 

[S E P H]

It's unbelievable how many of these tragedies could've been avoided. Was reading how a lot of helicopters weren't flying out that day because of fog, but Kobe's got special clearance. The special clearance was to go around the fog to LA and the pilot flew right in the middle of it and some experts say that they flew too low. Don't really care how good he was, but still beyond tragic.

 

[The Merchant]

 

[AW8]

Poke - clearly you have a dog in this fight. I do not. I promise you I am no Kobe apologist. I've never met the dude so I can not speak to him as a person. I remember the rape situation well and all that went with it. Was it rape? Maybe? 60-40 yes????
Here is all I can say--- was a life in Jail the best situation here? Even if he deserved it? I am not so sure. Especially since his baby girls were born, the man changed. He LOVED his girls. From this love he was one of the most prominent promoters of women's sport. He empowered millions of women to follow and chase their dream in all sports. He changed the life of millions for the better. If he was in jail (where perhaps he belonged) he could not have done that.
Maybe the guy really is a DB. He was when he was younger. IDK. I can respect your unequivocal despise of him.

On a side note - thank you for your Game day Threads - they are BOSS!!! I rarely post obviously but I read HF at least 360 days per year since I joined.

 

[JWK]

Part of Kobe’s legacy is that he’s a rapist. He’s also done some great things, it’s not an either or situation.