Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Kobe Bryant on Kaepernick's protest: 'I would have participated'
wsbtv ^ | Feb 12, 2018

Posted on 02/12/2018 5:25:30 PM PST by MarvinStinson

Retired NBA star Kobe Bryant during an interview with outspoken ESPN anchor Jemele Hill weighed in on the Colin Kaepernick protest debate by saying that if he were still playing today he would have joined in on it despite the potential backlash.

Bryant said that Kaepernick’s message was a “very simple one” and that people are as entitled to protest peacefully as they are to be upset about those protests.

“Yeah, I would have participated in it, for sure. I’m sure I would have gotten some flak for it. That’s fine,” he told Hill. “I think that Colin’s message was a very simple one. It was police brutality needs to stop. We need to take a look at that.”

“I think we understand this is a free country. I think we have the right to peaceful protest,” he continued. “That’s what the flag represents as well. The ability to speak, the ability to voice your opinion.”

“Everybody getting up in arms about it, they’re certainly in their right to do that as we’re certainly in our right to protest,” he concluded.

Bryant’s comments come on the heels of a Philadelphia Eagles player effusively praising Kaepernick as a “legend,” while he and other Super Bowl championship teammates declined White House appearances.

Bryant’s interviewer, Jemele Hill, also made waves recently by saying President Donald Trump was pushing “racial pornography” by urging people to stand for the national anthem.

Hill, who was suspended for two weeks months ago for calling President Donald Trump a “white supremacist” on her personal Twitter account, made the recent comments on Rev. Al Sharpton’s show “Politics Nation.”

Sharpton asked how Hill felt about Trump “[taking] a shot at people that are standing up about injustices?”

Hill replied that she wasn’t surprised because Trump is a “racial pornograph[er].”

“I wasn’t surprised, and I think this is going to be — a probably, a constant thing for the president, because it’s a very easy dog whistle, it’s low hanging fruit, it’s what I like to call ‘racial pornography,’ because it’s a way to stoke his base,” she said.

The Sporting News reached out to ESPN for comment about Hill’s MSNBC appearance and ESPN spokesman Mike Soltys replied that “the anthem is a sports issue.”

Previously, as we mentioned, Hill was suspended for tweeting that “Donald Trump is a white supremacist who has surrounded himself with other white supremacists,” and that Trump is “bigot” and “the most ignorant, offensive president of her lifetime.”

ESPN released a statement in October saying that Hill was suspended for violating the company’s “social media guidelines.”


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: California
KEYWORDS: anthm; bryant; california; chatforum; colinkaepernick; espn; flag; gangrape; jemelehill; kaepernick; knee; kobebryant; lakers; losangeles; losangeleslakers; metoo; sports; timesup
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-27 next last

1 posted on 02/12/2018 5:25:30 PM PST by MarvinStinson
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: MarvinStinson

Hey Kobe ..... Nobody cares.


2 posted on 02/12/2018 5:28:14 PM PST by EnglishOnly (Fight all out to win OR get out now. .)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MarvinStinson

Hey Kobe, raped any hotel maids lately?


3 posted on 02/12/2018 5:28:48 PM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MarvinStinson

..as opposed to military service, where he never would have participated.


4 posted on 02/12/2018 5:29:09 PM PST by MSF BU
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MarvinStinson

It’s better to keep your mouth shut than let everyone know you are a racist.


5 posted on 02/12/2018 5:30:17 PM PST by caver
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MarvinStinson

Kobe the rapist? Not even slightly surprising!


6 posted on 02/12/2018 5:30:19 PM PST by Gay State Conservative (Obama & Hillary: The Two Most Corrupt Politicians of My Lifetime.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MarvinStinson

...said the child rapist.


7 posted on 02/12/2018 5:32:09 PM PST by ButThreeLeftsDo (MAGA!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MarvinStinson
...that people are...entitled to protest peacefully...

Kobe, you might want to reconsider the "peaceful" part.

Here is a clue: The protests caused serious dollar damage to their employer's commercial property.

8 posted on 02/12/2018 5:34:47 PM PST by frog in a pot (Nancy Pelosi: Home invasion alarm systems violate the rights of burglars.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MarvinStinson

Kobe is another black athlete who came from an advantaged background and still fights for acceptance from other black men. He was raised mostly in Italy. His dad was on an international ball team. Kobe is fluent in Italian.
When Kobe got settled in the states, he decided at some point to become like most every other black guy he encountered.

Kobe still seems to go out of his way to show how authentically black he really is. Kaepernick is stuck in the same boat of feeling without a real home, being adopted by a white family. Now he has to reject all that in hopes of being accepted by his peers. Sad.


9 posted on 02/12/2018 5:38:32 PM PST by lee martell
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MarvinStinson

Kobe trying to stay relevant with 35% of the population. I guess for an idiot that’s better than nothing.


10 posted on 02/12/2018 5:45:01 PM PST by DAC21
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MarvinStinson

You would have been ignored just like the rest of the NFL.


11 posted on 02/12/2018 5:47:26 PM PST by SkyDancer ( ~ Just Consider Me A Random Fact Generator ~ Eat Sleep Fly Repeat ~)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MarvinStinson

All that fortune
All that fame
........


12 posted on 02/12/2018 5:52:55 PM PST by A_Former_Democrat (Another Islamic terrorist event, and no “outrage” from the “Muslim community”. Again)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: A_Former_Democrat

I never heard of him.


13 posted on 02/12/2018 5:55:03 PM PST by MarvinStinson
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: MarvinStinson
Kobe trying to steal Baracks portrait unveiling limelight
14 posted on 02/12/2018 5:56:29 PM PST by wardamneagle
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MarvinStinson

We already hated you forever Kobe. Just go the eff away.


15 posted on 02/12/2018 6:00:10 PM PST by onona
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MarvinStinson

Kobe has front row seats at Lakers games, I imagine. What’s stopping him from taking a knee at their games? Nothing. Just another blowhard.


16 posted on 02/12/2018 6:03:46 PM PST by Mozzafiato
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MarvinStinson

Another overpaid ass.


17 posted on 02/12/2018 6:05:09 PM PST by july4thfreedomfoundation (No DACA Caca....Send the Nightmares home. "Americans are Dreamers, too." President Trump)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MarvinStinson
feh...
18 posted on 02/12/2018 6:09:36 PM PST by Chode (You have all of the resources you are going to have. Abandon your illusions and plan accordingly.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MarvinStinson

Well then FUKB


19 posted on 02/12/2018 6:23:03 PM PST by Bullish (Whatever it takes to MAGA)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MarvinStinson

He also participates in forcing girls to do anal against their will and gets away with it.


20 posted on 02/12/2018 6:26:14 PM PST by The Toll
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-27 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson