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WNBA Player Investigated for Sexual Assault of Teammate . . (A Female Kobe?)
Associated Press ^ | Aug 14, 2003 | Associated Press

Posted on 08/15/2003 12:02:50 AM PDT by Tom Pain

Former Sparks Player Under Investigation Thu Aug 14,12:17 AM ET

LOS ANGELES - Former WNBA player Latasha Byears, who helped the Los Angeles Sparks to two league championships, is under investigation for allegedly sexually assaulting a former teammate, a television station reported.

Byears and three men who have no connection to the Sparks allegedly raped the victim at a party following a June 5 game against the Sacramento Monarchs at Staples Center, KCOP-TV reported Tuesday night.

No one has been arrested, but the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said Wednesday there is an investigation involving several male and female basketball players. Sheriff's Deputy David Cervantes would only say a report was taken in the case.

The Sparks waived Byears on June 10, five days after the alleged incident. She did not play in a June 7 game against the Monarchs in Sacramento because she was dealing with a personal matter, team officials said at the time.

Sparks spokeswoman Kristal Shipp said Wednesday the team has been contacted by authorities and is cooperating.

"We are aware of the serious nature of the police investigation and we are cooperating in every way," she said in a statement. "We don't know the facts, so until the investigation and the judicial process, if there is one, are completed, it would not be appropriate for us to make any comment."

Byears, 30, was traded by Sacramento to the Sparks in 2000. She spent four years with the Monarchs but had troubles on and off the court.

She pleaded no contest to reckless driving in 2002 and was suspended for one game. Later that year she was suspended for two games after throwing a ball at Michelle Marciniak's face during a game against the Seattle Storm.

Byears, who is no longer playing in the WNBA, ranks eighth all-time in field goal percentage (.514) and is among the top 10 rebounders in league history. She averaged 5.6 points and 4.2 rebounds this season.

Known as "Tot," a nickname given by her grandmother, Byears played at DePaul and was a second-team All-America as a junior in 1994-95 and was a first-team selection as a senior.

In an article published in the July issue of GQ magazine, Byears referred to herself as the toughest player in the WNBA and said she wanted to open a restaurant or a nightclub when her playing days ended.

"I been in this league six years now. I came in through the back door," she told the magazine. "But I'm leaving through the front, side and middle. Man, roll the red velvet out for me, 'cause I'm the boss."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Front Page News; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: kobe; lasparks; latashabyears; rape; sexualassault; wnba
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Anybody else heard more about this? A FEMALE WNBA player is being investigated for RAPING/SEXUALLY ASSAULTING a teammate, AND 3 men were allegedly also involved?
1 posted on 08/15/2003 12:02:51 AM PDT by Tom Pain
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To: Tom Pain

Hootchie Mama.

2 posted on 08/15/2003 12:09:03 AM PDT by martin_fierro (A v v n c v l v s M a x i m v s)
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To: Tom Pain
Anybody else heard more about this? A FEMALE WNBA player is being investigated for RAPING/SEXUALLY ASSAULTING a teammate, AND 3 men were allegedly also involved?

Give her a fair trial and, if guilty, a fast hanging.

3 posted on 08/15/2003 12:11:01 AM PDT by af_vet_1981
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To: Tom Pain
Yes, be on the look out for these three suspects;


4 posted on 08/15/2003 12:14:32 AM PDT by swilhelm73
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To: Tom Pain
keep me posted, please. There is a story here, I think.
5 posted on 08/15/2003 1:01:27 AM PDT by thegreatbeast (Quid lucrum istic mihi est?)
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To: thegreatbeast
The story will be comparing media coverage between Byears and Kobe. Sure Kobe is a legit superstar, but how often does a rape involve a woman that has LNBA fame?

Talk about man bites dog. Maybe for real.
6 posted on 08/15/2003 3:33:06 AM PDT by texas booster (Vote for recall! Vote for anyone but Grey!)
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To: Tom Pain
Guess that means she'll lose the endorsement for Snap-On Tools...
7 posted on 08/15/2003 5:27:19 AM PDT by Treebeard
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To: Tom Pain
Byears referred to herself as the toughest player in the WNBA..."I been in this league six years now. I came in through the back door. But I'm leaving through the front, side and middle. Man, roll the red velvet out for me, 'cause I'm the boss."

Guilty.

8 posted on 08/15/2003 7:45:50 AM PDT by dead (Perdicaris alive or Raisuli dead!)
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To: thegreatbeast
keep me posted, please. There is a story here, I think.

Yes, there is definitely a story here!

Had coworkers who didn't believe that women could rape women.

9 posted on 08/15/2003 7:56:54 AM PDT by Tom Pain
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To: Tom Pain
Had coworkers who didn't believe that women could rape women.

It is more about power and humiliation, especially if the perp does it in concert with a gang. Hang her if she is guilty.

10 posted on 08/15/2003 8:03:31 AM PDT by af_vet_1981
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To: Tom Pain
Kobe must be asking: "Where's the media on this?"
11 posted on 08/15/2003 8:08:09 AM PDT by Tom Pain
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To: martin_fierro
Man, with all the bull-dyke emphasis of the WNBA, this really isn't so surprising. I mean that she would act about like you would expect an NBA star to behave.
12 posted on 08/15/2003 8:08:17 AM PDT by TontoKowalski
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To: Tom Pain
It comes from the same side of the street. For some people
bad publicity is better than no publicity at all.
13 posted on 08/15/2003 8:12:27 AM PDT by Chantal
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To: TontoKowalski
...with all the bull-dyke emphasis of the WNBA...

You mean there are angry lesbians in the WNBA?

14 posted on 08/15/2003 8:15:21 AM PDT by WestPacSailor (Never attend a gunfight with a handgun the caliber of which starts with less than a "4.")
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To: Tom Pain
Shouldn't it be easy to figure out who the teammate/rape victim is? If she's in the WNBA, she would have missed games back in June?
15 posted on 08/15/2003 8:37:33 AM PDT by Tom Pain
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To: Tom Pain
WNBA fans celebrating a victory.
16 posted on 08/15/2003 8:41:40 AM PDT by putupon (Only read headlines and captions or your head will get too fat.)
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To: Tom Pain
Wow that is pretty scary to think of one amazons going off...
17 posted on 08/15/2003 8:45:31 AM PDT by optik_b
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To: WestPacSailor
You mean there are angry lesbians in the WNBA?

I very disproportionate amount of the fan base for the WNBA is lesbian. Last year, O'Reilly had a sexpose on this.

Specifically, the fan dykes got all riled up because they didn't get special lesbian discounts (or something like that) and protested by staging a massive all-girl kiss-in at halftime.

Which, naturally, ticked off a bunch of the families who had brought their daughters to the game...

18 posted on 08/15/2003 10:21:08 AM PDT by TontoKowalski
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To: Tom Pain
"...and is among the top 10 rebounders in league history."

...which is rougly equivalent to being one of the top ten ice hockey goalies in Somalia.

19 posted on 08/15/2003 10:42:58 AM PDT by PrivateIdaho
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To: PrivateIdaho
rougly = roughly (...helps to spell correctly when making smart a$$ comments)
20 posted on 08/15/2003 10:45:42 AM PDT by PrivateIdaho
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