TMZ reports that Kobe Bryant passed away.

[One Brow]

I know Johnny Depp would have appreciated that.

You aren't making the point you think you are.

 

[JimLes]

So, only people who were convicted have done bad things. Got it.

And apparently our only standard for ethical behaviour should be lack of criminal conviction.

Let's build both Stockton and Malone another statue.

 

[bigmike]

And we felt the need to bump this thread and beat a dead horse because…?

 

[Miggs]

This is court of public opinion. I’m no Kobe fan boy. But innocent until proven guilty. If I were wrongly accused I’d play hard ball too. If I had been assaulted in any way and pressed charges no amount of backlash would stop me. I’m not saying she was lying. I don’t know, neither do you. Unless you are Bryant or the girl everything else is opinion based. We live in America which means innocent until proven guilty. So that’s how we must treat this. Kobe was never found guilty. Like it or not that’s how I must treat this.

I’m sorry if you’re a woman who’s been raped and courageous enough to press charges. I don’t see how you back out.

There are plenty of women who have taken advantage of today’s age of protest and new awareness. Too much for my comfort. So if a woman acts a certain way I’m sorry but I’m not going to trust a woman or man for that matter till I have the facts. You can call me a scum or sexist all you want I could care less.

Basically you can have your opinion but at the end of the day Kobe was never convicted.

And OJ was not guilty. But…

 

[brooklynese]

Knew a guy insisted OJ was innocent.
I said do you think it's at least possible he did it.
He said no.
I said not even possible.. maybe?
No.

I remember this thread in my lurking days and hate to bump it but wanted to state the obvious.

People put on those goggles. It's over.

 

[JimLes]

And we felt the need to bump this thread and beat a dead horse because…?

Because I got cussed out by multiple posters who said that I can't talk about Kobe being a rapist right after his death. I was told we could all nicely, civilly have that conversation some other time. I was just wondering if it's still too soon. Having been 4 years and all.

 

[JimLes]

Look, no one likes to see their heroes fall. It's traumatic, in a very Freudian sense. I get it.

I've lost my two all-time sports heroes over the last few years. Both to the dreaded conspiracy theories idiocy.

Of course, I could've as well just dropped the "sports" from the above statements. When you're a kid, sporting heroes are heroes, period. You grow up, but you hope that you can grow old with your heroes, in a sense. You wanna believe they're not just great athletes, but also great human beings. It sucks when you discover they're not just flawed humans like everyone else, but actually complete idiots or even just horrible human beings. It feels like an important part of your own identity is under question or even under attack.

As a society, though, we have strive to do better. Of course there's laws and of course I'm not suggesting we apply any of them retroactively, but there's more to ethics than laws. People should be held to a much, much higher ethical standard than "guilty/innocent." Again, it can be hard sometimes. I'm probably not going to throw my Stockton jersey out, but I haven't worn it recently. It sucks because my other Jazz jersey is a Mitchell one. I don't wanna wear either. What's a Jazz fan to do?

We just can't conflate athletic accomplishments with being a good citizen. That's fine. Kobe's still an all-time great, just like OJ is at football. It shouldn't have bearing on how we judge them as human beings.

It shouldn't matter if you've done this:

or this:

 

[Peter Effin' Parker]

The fact that this is even a discussion on a Jazz fan board in 2024 is embarrassing.

 

[Thee Jazz Fan]

You're a rape apologist, to be precise.

Then so is the law

 

[Thee Jazz Fan]

And OJ was not guilty. But…

Maybe but I can’t guarantee that.

 

[Thee Jazz Fan]

Knew a guy insisted OJ was innocent.
I said do you think it's at least possible he did it.
He said no.
I said not even possible.. maybe?
No.

I remember this thread in my lurking days and hate to bump it but wanted to state the obvious.

People put on those goggles. It's over.

I don’t think people understand what I’m saying. I think it’s possible he did it. I’m just not sure one way or the other or jumping to conclusions in the eye of the law he’s not guilty of a crime. I’m not dealing in any absolutes. If he did it he’s currently paying for it in the next life

 

[Miggs]

Maybe but I can’t guarantee that.

Why?