Acknowledging Bryant's Past; Touchy?

There's a lot of great things to say about the career of Kobe Bryant. But we also have to touch the dark moments of the late NBA legend's past. But there's a time to say this stuff, and I believe we're past the grieving point to where I think it's safe to talk about the rape allegations that occurred in 2003. And unfortunately for Felicia Sonmez, she picked the worst time to bring that up. From reading the stories, the Washington Post reporter tweeted an article about the rape story not too long after his death. I believe it was within hours of what happened.

I said this on Twitter and I'll say the same thing. I have mixed feelings on what Sonmez brought up. I do believe we have to acknowledge that. It is a part of his past. You can't ignore it, regardless of where you stand on whether you think the rape happened or not. But it is the case of too soon. She was suspended, but reinstated. She admitted it was ill timed to bring that up, but held her ground a little bit. I don't think a suspension was worthy. I would have given her a verbal warning about this. She also said about wanting to tell the truth. That's a slippery slope to say because everyone has their own version of the truth. And obviously, it has triggered both sides of whether Bryant committed this crime or not.

There is also from reading comments about saying it because of sexual abuse victims. I think that's the worst thing to discuss because I feel like it would trigger bad memories. And with the high profile stories, it makes it hard to believe what happens to some people. A problem with today's world is stuff like the MeToo movement and any of that garbage. It makes it harder to know the truth and separating fact from fiction and whether or not some of them try to gain 15 minutes of fame through it. I don't think that's what Sonmez was trying to do on purpose, but like I said, too soon. Some other people are under fire for that as well.

It's as I said in the title, touchy. A very touchy subject. Even with where you stand, Bryant was not a perfect player. That's what happens when a brash and very young player joins the league before college guys get drafted in. Not to mention maturity and all that. But I'll end it with this. Sonmez was within her rights to bring it up, but should have waited until right around this time. There is such thing as sensitivity for any kind of incident, but you have to be very careful with how you talk about said incident to a victim or someone that knew a victim. This outrage on both sides is far from over.