While reading the article “A Legacy of Incoherence” by Amira Rose Davis, my jaw dropped when the author explains how Kobe Bryant raped a 19-year-old woman in 2003. Before reading this article, I did not even know the events that occurred. I was left wondering why I never heard of it. I wonder if it was because I was so young in 2003, as the events unfolded. Then I began to consider if it was just swept under the rug because Kobe was one of the biggest basketball stars of all time. Another portion of this article that stood out to me was that when Kobe retired from basketball it was not considered the time to talk about the rape case. The reasoning behind it was because it was meant to be a time of celebration. I disagree with this idea. Even though Kobe should be celebrated for his success in basketball, the woman he raped does not get to pick and choose when she thinks about the events. Instead, she is likely plagued with trauma every day. Why should Kobe be given the luxury to refuse to talk about it or think about it? Another piece of information presented in this article that I was unaware of was that Black Mamba was created as a direct response to the sexual assault case. Since I did not know this information, I wonder if those who posted about the Black Mamba on social media in the aftermath of his death knew this.
3 thoughts on “Legacy”
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Since I am not the most die-hard basketball fan, much like you I did not know Kobe raped a 19-year old woman until his death was announced back in January. This really makes the audience ask questions about how the media is purposely displaying what they want and don’t want to broadcast, further emphasizing my distrust in several news sources. Even though Kobe inspired many people and still does today I think we can both agree on the fact that the media seems to push their own agenda a lot.
I also did not know about this rape case but I wasn’t that surprised when reading about it. I kind of expected cases like these that involves superstars as perpetrators and victims being shut out. “Why should Kobe be given the luxury to refuse to talk about it or think about it?” is a question that everyone should ask themselves and realize the immoral behavior which media executes regarding sexual assault victims. Also, how we basically allowed idolized people to get away from situations like these.
I was also pretty shocked when i read about it. I had no idea that he did something so huge, but it wasn’t talked about as much as it should have. It makes me wonder how many more untold/hidden stories there are of celebrities.