Kobe Bryant

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“The Tainted Record”

He has it all: the fame, the fortune, and the fans. Kobe Bryant has anything and everything any living person could want, and as a former NBA champion, he even has arguably more athleticism than most people out there. However, even through his NBA championships and his MVP awards, many people tend to look at Kobe in a very negative way; almost look down on the star for one single occurrence. This may seem harsh, but there is indeed a logical explanation to this seemingly pessimistic attention Kobe always attracts. In 2003, a sexual assault case was filed on Kobe, which would proceed to affect his image forever (“Bryant, Kobe” 4). Therefore, although he is an extremely talented athlete, Kobe Bryant is a negative influence to aspiring basketball players.

Although this negative attention occurred during his NBA career, Bryant did, in fact, have many NBA achievements before this mishap. Firstly, at just 17 years old (“Kobe Bryant” 1), Kobe managed to become the second youngest player to enter the professional league in NBA history, being the 13th overall pick in the 1996 draft (“Bryant, Kobe” 1). In mid-1996, Kobe was traded to his now current team, the NBA Lakers, where he would proceed to gain both his glory and his infamy (“Kobe Bryant” 1). Additionally, Bryant joined the all-star team in just his second season in the league, therefore becoming the single youngest player to be part of the all-star team of all time (“Bryant, Kobe” 1) at just 19 years old (Kobe at 30--Oh, how the years go by 2). Surprisingly, these achievements would not be the only ones he would acquire. By 2003, Bryant had already captured 3 NBA titles for himself (“Bryant, Kobe” 1), winning three titles in a row from 2000 to 2002(K...

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...e Bryant’s success, he is unfortunately a negative role model to aspiring basketball players. However, he has it all. Kobe Bryant always is and always will be an NBA legend. He has had and still does have countless fans, and possesses a level of skill which very few could even match. However, despite all of these feats he has achieved and all of the money he has managed to earn, his sexual assault case in 2003 taints this famous star’s record. No matter how it’s observed, Kobe Bryant was permanently affected, which in turn affected many fans’ viewpoints of the star. And although he has made a definite comeback, his past actions are not and will never be forgotten. No matter what he does in the future, the assault case will still be there. Therefore, because of this, Kobe Bryant’s image, no matter how hard he may try, will be damaged, or tainted, forever.

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