NBA 2003/04

[JediMAC]

That's interesting, 'cause as rumor has it, Shaq was heavily involved with originally getting Eddie Jones booted out of L.A.  No idea why...

Deja vous?

[Brian]

Looks as if the Mavs/Warriors Trade is all taken care of now.  It breaks down like this:

Dallas Receives:

Erick Dampier (7 year, 73M contract)
Dan Dickau
Evan Eschmeyer
draft rights to Steve Logan

Golden State Receives:

Christian Laettner
Eduardo Najera
two future first-round draft picks
draft rights to guards Luis Flores and Mladen Sekularac

Good pickup for the Mavs either way, and they unload Laettner as well.  Dickau isn't a bad 2nd/3rd PG to have on the roster either.  Golden State...well, they got something for Dampier this way, although nothing overly impressive to me.  Najera is a hustler, and plays hard, and I believe Laettner is in his last year, so will help to provide cap space.

[JediMAC]

So, it sounds like the rape charges against Kobe are going to be dropped in a few hours!   


In other Laker related news, we're trying to land Jon Berry right now, to probably handle some of the point guard play (though that's not really his position)...

[Jeff]

So, it sounds like the rape charges against Kobe are going to be dropped in a few hours!   

I hope he's happy with all he's gone through to get his "street cred"...

Jeff

[JediMAC]

I'm sure he is.  I hear he consulted Puckett a while back for some pointers on the whole process... 

[JediMAC]

Dismissed!

Civil suit's still on though...   

[Morgbug]

Dismissed!

Civil suit's still on though...   

So that means he can only be as guilty as O.J. Simpson?

 

[JediMAC]

Oh, that's real ******' funny...   

[Scott]

Whew   That was a waste of tax payers money...he's still a punk ass loser and this further cements it

Puckett is too, damn bastard

[Morgbug]

Oh, that's real ******' funny...   

Whaaaaaaat?  OJ was innocent.  The court said so. 

I think we figured out from the get go that Kobe was screwed either way.  Damned if he did and damned if he didn't.  The joys of being rich and famous. 

I'll make it up to you.  He's just an adulterer.  Not as low as a rapist by any stretch of the imagination, but not someone I would consider to be much of a role model.  Better?

[Brian]

I was watching ESPN this morning with the coverage of this case, and something they found odd (and so did I), was his statement after the case had been dropped.  Here's his statement, they made a point (on ESPN) to point out that after a year of basically calling this woman a liar, he now basically admits that she didn't see the "meeting" as consentual.  Just odd for him to come out and say this now it seems....
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"First, I want to apologize directly to the young woman involved in this incident. I want to apologize to her for my behavior that night and for the consequences she has suffered in the past year. Although this year has been incredibly difficult for me personally, I can only imagine the pain she has had to endure. I also want to apologize to her parents and family members, and to my family and friends and supporters, and to the citizens of Eagle, Colo.

"I also want to make it clear that I do not question the motives of this young woman. No money has been paid to this woman. She has agreed that this statement will not be used against me in the civil case. Although I truly believe this encounter between us was consensual, I recognize now that she did not and does not view this incident the same way I did. After months of reviewing discovery, listening to her attorney, and even her testimony in person, I now understand how she feels that she did not consent to this encounter.

"I issue this statement today fully aware that while one part of this case ends today, another remains. I understand that the civil case against me will go forward. That part of this case will be decided by and between the parties directly involved in the incident and will no longer be a financial or emotional drain on the citizens of the state of Colorado."
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[Scott]

So he basically admits that he raped her?  What a ******* loser

[JediMAC]

He basically "had to" say that stuff.  It was part of their "deal" for her to drop the charges and bring an end to the case.  But yeah, it sounded pretty lame.

They'll most likely reach an out of court settlement on the civil case soon too, before that goes to court.  Kobe shouldn't pay her ****, but I think he will just so he doesn't have to deal with this whole nightmare again...

Sounds like it boiled down to the fact that the girl refused to testify in the case.  Hmmm...  Gotta wonder why...   

What a total waste of a ton of people's time and money (and possibly a Lakers championship) she just caused over the past year.   

[Morgbug]

He basically "had to" say that stuff.  It was part of their "deal" for her to drop the charges and bring an end to the case.  But yeah, it sounded pretty lame.

They'll most likely reach an out of court settlement on the civil case soon too, before that goes to court.  Kobe shouldn't pay her ****, but I think he will just so he doesn't have to deal with this whole nightmare again...

Sounds like it boiled down to the fact that the girl refused to testify in the case.  Hmmm...  Gotta wonder why...   

What a total waste of a ton of people's time and money (and possibly a Lakers championship) she just caused over the past year.   

Nope, going to steadfastly disagree with you here Matt.  It is all too common in rape cases that the "victim" does not want to testify.  That is in cases that are only criminal in nature, with a true NOT RICH slime ball who is only facing a jail term with no financial renumeration for the "victim".  It is a perpetual reality that court cases turn the rape victim into the "accused".  She wore the wrong kind of clothes, she smiled the wrong way, her history sexually is in question. 

His is not.  Hell, he's a professional athlete.  He's only slept with what, maybe 1000 women?  He only committed adultery, right?  No big deal, common as dirt.  Oh sure, it makes him a slime ball, but not a rapist.  Well, that's a question we'll never have the answer to, in spite of that statement.  He "had" to make that?  Nuh-uh, not buying it.  She dropped the charges, he didn't have to make a statement including that, unless you know something specific about the deal that wasn't in the media. 

Here's a thought to contemplate:  God forbid, but what if Patty was raped.  I guaran-damn-tee you the defense would assault her morals in the trial, put her on trial for all intents and purposes, all the while never assailing the defendant because it is against his constitutional rights.  You know Patty was raped, she knows it, but she'll still go through a tremendously horrible experience, all in hopes of making her drop the case. 

I don't know what happened in that case, but I am tremendously surprised by your attitude.   

[chuckles]

I might have to agree with Brent here. She probably dropped the case for the simple fact of no longer wanting to deal with all the crap that came with it, since I can only imagine the kind of crap the defense attorneys were making her go thru.

It's probably 1000 times worse than what my wife is having to deal with in her case from when she hurt her back at work 18 months ago. Their insurance company is doing every single thing they can to make it hell for her, in hopes she'll simply give up and drop her case before it comes time for a settlement. And this is for a simple disability claim, can you imagine what their doing to someone in a rape case?