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Kobe Bryant Was The NBA’s Last Apolitical Superstar
Hot Air ^ | February 1, 2020 | Hot Air

Posted on 02/01/2020 4:40:26 PM PST by GuavaCheesePuff

Over the course of Kobe’s 20-year-long career, he remained consistently silent on political issues, in a way that by the time of his retirement seemed wildly anachronistic. Bryant’s apolitical attitude reflected the individual-focused, Jordan-era status quo in which he entered the league, but it eventually made him out of step with his younger counterparts, who have largely taken up the activist mantle of older icons like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson. Today’s NBA stars are eager not only to use their platform to amplify political and social causes, but to establish activism as a responsibility in its own right, as LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and others did at the ESPY Awards in 2016. Even prominent head coaches like Steve Kerr and Gregg Popovich—who are demographically more likely to be Trump supporters than liberal agitators—have earned reputations for speaking out against police shootings and the Trump administration in the bluntest terms…

(Excerpt) Read more at hotair.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Sports
KEYWORDS: antipope; homosexualagenda; kobe; kobebryant; loveaffairwithkobe; nba; ntsa; politics; popefrancis; romancatholicism
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To: John S Mosby

Sad to die in a crash, but the reality of the individual is not obscured by a tragic death, and shouldn’t be.


Much the same has been said of Trump. Are you going to indict him too? Or do you only take issue retired black athletes who ride helicopters into the side of mountains?


41 posted on 02/01/2020 7:23:01 PM PST by lodi90
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To: GuavaCheesePuff

Larry Bird and Magic Johnson’s NBA...that was the days...Stockton, the Mailman, Jordan.. Not a fan today...I saw a game on TV a few days ago...travelling is not called, miss dunks and 3 points shots that miss everything...no thanks, give me hockey...or NASCAR!!!


42 posted on 02/01/2020 9:13:00 PM PST by Deplorable American1776 (Proud to be a DeplorableAmerican with a Deplorable Family...even the dog is, too. :-))
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To: John S Mosby
Except for being a DNA proven rapist

Nope. Not true.

43 posted on 02/01/2020 11:20:59 PM PST by Tired of Taxes
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To: BobL

Maybe I haven’t kept up with the story. I had understood that the bird and the pilot were both instrument capable, but it was quicker to go under visibility and so someone presumably chose that shortcut?


44 posted on 02/02/2020 2:47:05 AM PST by 9YearLurker
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To: BobL

Oh, sorry, now I see the separate thread to the contrary...


45 posted on 02/02/2020 2:49:43 AM PST by 9YearLurker
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To: John S Mosby

So true.


46 posted on 02/02/2020 7:55:30 AM PST by hawkaw
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To: John S Mosby; All

Wow, who’d have thought you’d be bullied as a racist here for not fawning over an over-hyped athlete for whom it was apparently ok for him to:

Rape a girl
Endorse kneeling
Bash Trump as divisive (but it’s ok, it was in 2017)

Absolutely amazing.

It’s getting to be like 2016 again with the intolerant #neverTrumpers here.

They MUST be defeated again in November.


47 posted on 02/02/2020 10:55:52 AM PST by treetopsandroofs
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To: treetopsandroofs

You can disagree with a person’s politics but still look at the evidence and conclude that person wasn’t guilty of a crime.


48 posted on 02/02/2020 1:05:58 PM PST by Tired of Taxes
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To: Tired of Taxes

“You can disagree with a person’s politics but still look at the evidence and conclude that person wasn’t guilty of a crime.”

Or conclude that despite his politics, he WAS guilty of a crime, which should be just as respected here, right?


49 posted on 02/02/2020 1:42:26 PM PST by treetopsandroofs
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To: treetopsandroofs
Or conclude that despite his politics, he WAS guilty of a crime, which should be just as respected here, right?

Of course, if the DNA evidence and witness accounts support the accusation.

In this case, the accusation was not credible.

50 posted on 02/02/2020 2:19:28 PM PST by Tired of Taxes
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To: treetopsandroofs

By the way, that thread I linked is from 16 years ago (2004).

But it contains information about the DNA evidence.


51 posted on 02/02/2020 2:31:02 PM PST by Tired of Taxes
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To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Arthur Wildfire! March; Berosus; Bockscar; cardinal4; ColdOne; ...

52 posted on 02/02/2020 2:34:29 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: lodi90

Give it a rest, pal. There are criminal facts regarding his rapes... and multiple claims. The one that he settled for millions was DNA proven, and he confessed in the settlement.

The Trump accusations are a long string of gold digging and whacked people, again, all provable.

Black athlete has nothing to do with it, and my observations are as a forensics clinician.


53 posted on 02/02/2020 3:01:40 PM PST by John S Mosby (Sic Semper Tyrannis)
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To: Tired of Taxes

Absolutely true— you are not familiar with the case.


54 posted on 02/02/2020 3:02:36 PM PST by John S Mosby (Sic Semper Tyrannis)
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To: treetopsandroofs; lodi90; Tired of Taxes

The two individuals are “virtue signalling” crapola about race that is not what was said.
What was said was clinical diagnostics, criminal forensics, profiling and certified lab results of DNA testing that drove the perp (I don’t give a damn what the person is as earning a living), to confess to the act, and to settle and make a huge payment, as well as a confession including a description of his favourite “mode” of dominance and what is euphemistically called “rough sex”. The advantage of this one accuser was wealth and effective legal representation.
It’s a different world when one sees the dead, delivered at the hands of seriously perverted people. Again, do not care one whit what they do for a living or their race. It is a given that professional sports celebrities start to believe in their “extra specialness” like rock stars or even elite monarchic royalty. Everybody goes out feet first.


55 posted on 02/02/2020 3:12:26 PM PST by John S Mosby (Sic Semper Tyrannis)
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To: SunkenCiv

Kobe Bryant is a Democrat? Thanks for the breaking news there.


56 posted on 02/02/2020 3:13:10 PM PST by lodi90
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To: John S Mosby

Yes, there are criminal facts here. The facts of the criminal case are that Bryant was never charged with a crime. Given that I can only conclude your real issue with Bryant is either his politics or his race. I’ll be charitable and assign the obvious bias displayed here is due to his politics.


57 posted on 02/02/2020 3:16:43 PM PST by lodi90
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To: Tired of Taxes

Good luck with the facts of that case. These celebrity deaths always bring out the bigots and the cranks.


58 posted on 02/02/2020 3:18:38 PM PST by lodi90
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To: John S Mosby

The only fact the DNA evidence supports is that the accuser had sex with another man in the hours between the alleged rape and her hospital exam.


59 posted on 02/02/2020 3:18:55 PM PST by Tired of Taxes
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To: John S Mosby
The two individuals are “virtue signalling” crapola about race that is not what was said.

Where did I make "race" an issue on this thread?

Answer: I didn't.

60 posted on 02/02/2020 3:26:18 PM PST by Tired of Taxes
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