Kobe Bryant... Going It Alone

October 8, 2003
by Debra Opri - Attorney and Legal Analyst

We are in a steamy gym listening to Kobe Bryant speak, at the University of Hawaii, on October 4, 2003... days later than expected, and again on October 6, 2003 listening to the L.A. Lakers basketball player give his 'press conference.' A huge media delegation has flown to this island to hear Bryant's words from his mouth to our ears. Even with the gag order in place, we are still waiting with bated breath for him to speak. And, not surprisingly, he does.

"I'm terrified," he states. "Life has been pretty crazy. You go through something like this, and you realize how important your family is, seeing my daughter grow up...." Well, we all get the picture. It seems Bryant is intent on letting everyone know how he feels about his "terrifying" ordeal.

I don't know. Maybe it's my lawyer instincts surfacing. I seem to think jury selection is on everyone's mind, including Bryant's, and he's putting his best foot forward. The translation goes something like this:

Bryant: "Hey, no matter what you hear from now on, please just know that I'm a victim, too. Don't make me do any jail time. Think about what it will do to my family."

Potential jury pool: "He made a mistake. Was it big enough to send him to jail?"

I think it's time to revisit that gag order, Judge Gannett.

This is fast becoming a sad commentary on Kobe Bryant and his efforts to employ the media's assistance with his solo agenda. It's equally sad that, when his words are reviewed in the context of the criminal case pending against him, his youth and societal "immaturity" to the realities facing him hang in a garish light of his most recent actions. It has become very apparent that he has decided to go it alone. His attorneys may be doing their best to professionally represent him in the courtroom, but they seemingly have little or no client control at this point. And this should be of major concern to them.

What if the client control problem worsens? What then? Will they be forced to withdraw as prior attorneys have in other cases? Does the name Robert Blake ring a bell?

These are serious concerns. As such, unless Bryant can rise to his responsibilities as a celebrity defendant in a high profile criminal case and control his actions [and inactions] -- and there are many instances to cite, such as the first press conference with his wife, high profile public appearances, including an awards show, flashy outings, expensive gift purchases for his wife, his late arrival to training camp after refusing to take calls from his coach, and now his most recent comments -- the media may be facing an announcement in the near future from his own attorneys. It's very possible and very probable.

Another, more disturbing concern is our in-depth view of his publicly open thoughts about how he perceives himself against the world. But let's be specific for a moment and focus on his comments about his teammates' inability to understand his situation. When he stated that they "would never understand" his crisis, he was, in essence, telling the world that he had distanced himself from even his teammates. Problem is, they are the only ones he'll be hanging with for the next many months, and if he isolates himself from them, where does that leave him emotionally?

The answer is grim. If he couldn't get out of bed and report to training camp with his teammates after a judge ruled against him on motions that would determine the way the preliminary hearing would be played out on October 9, 2003, what, exactly can we expect from him as trial approaches?

It is time, now, for Bryant to deal with the stress of this criminal nightmare he faces, by allowing his attorneys to do their jobs, and for him to do his. That includes adhering to the gag order.

Plain and simple: stop talking, Kobe. You want to go it alone, that's your choice. Just stop trying to gain sympathy with your woebegone comments. While your future jury pool is watching, the results you seek may backfire. And, in the end, that may not play well for you in the courtroom.