When Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas five years ago this week, the city of Los Angeles was in shock. Known as one of the best basketball players ever, the 41-year-old was loved locally as the rookie who spent his entire 20-year career with the LA Lakers.
Soon after his death, murals honoring Bryant appeared all over the city, showing him as a figure between a god and an angel for his amazing basketball achievements.
On Saturday (January 25), the first episode of a new three-part documentary, Kobe: The Making of a Legend, aired on CNN.
The first part of the series covers his childhood, his rise in youth basketball, and his marriage to his wife Vanessa, which caused a rift with his parents and closest advisors.
However, the second episode, set to air on January 31, will be the most controversial. It includes details of a newly discovered police interview with the 19-year-old hotel worker who accused Bryant of sexual assault in 2003.
At 24, Bryant was already a star when he checked into the Cordillera Lodge and Spa in June 2003. He was in the quiet Colorado town of Eagle to have minor knee surgery. The woman who accused him worked at the hotel front desk.
She claims in the police interview that after showing Bryant to his room, he asked her for a personal tour. Once they were back in his room, he asked for a hug and then kissed her.
While she said that part was consensual, she claims that when he began to touch her inappropriately and she objected, she tried to get away but he grabbed her by the neck.
When Bryant was arrested and charged with sexual assault, the small town of Eagle, Colorado was quickly overwhelmed by media attention. Bryant’s lawyers held a press conference where he denied the assault but admitted to having sex with the woman.
Kobe was furious with his actions
Holding hands with his wife Vanessa, he told reporters that he was “furious with myself, disgusted at myself for making a mistake of adultery.”
He added that he loves his wife deeply. “She’s my backbone,” he said, before turning to her and saying: “You’re a blessing.”
From the footage of the press conference, it’s clear that Bryant was very scared. He knew that if he was convicted, he could face at least four years in prison, which would separate him from his wife and their five-month-old daughter, as well as end his basketball career.
However, public opinion seemed to be on Bryant’s side. Just 14 days after the charges were filed, he was named Male Athlete of the Year at the Teen Choice Awards, with the crowd cheering for him.
The same support was visible outside the courtroom when the trial began in August 2003, with massive TV coverage and large groups of fans cheering for him.
District Attorney Mark Hurlbert believed he could win the case, though he admitted that the budget for his office for the entire year ($2 million) was half of what Bryant had spent on a diamond ring for his wife ($4 million), which was seen as an apology.
Although Bryant’s lawyer, Pamela Mackey, was instructed not to identify the victim, she mentioned her six times in court as the trial began (Mackey chose not to speak for the CNN documentary).
The woman was relentlessly pursued by the media, received death threats, and was expected to reveal her sexual history in court.
By September 2004, the trial ended when the judge dropped the charges after the woman said she didn’t want to testify.
She later filed a civil lawsuit against Bryant, and in March 2005, they settled the case outside of court for an amount believed to be more than $2.5 million.
During the trial, basketball commentators portrayed Bryant’s problems as something for him to overcome, rather than focusing on the crime he was accused of.
In the documentary, journalists and friends suggest that Bryant used the negative attention to motivate himself and reach new heights, which helped inspire the “Black Mamba” nickname he gave himself. Scoop Jackson, who knew Bryant well, says that a “switch was flipped and the Black Mamba was born.”
Off the court, Bryant and Vanessa had a second daughter in 2006. In 2011, Vanessa filed for divorce citing “irreconcilable differences,” but by 2013, they had reconciled and publicly announced they were staying together.
The couple had two more daughters in 2016 and 2019, and Bryant worked to restore his reputation as a committed family man. When he passed away in the crash with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, they were on their way to his Mamba Sports Academy, where he was going to coach her basketball team.
In the end, the 2003 incident did little to stop him from being remembered as a hero after his tragic death, but as The Making of a Legend shows, it continues to affect his legacy.
