Karl Malone wins Legend of the Year at NBA Legends Brunch

[Courant]

Did people just not know about this during his playing career? I find it hard to believe that the story only surfaced after his playing days.

I was a sports reporter in the 1990s, and this story was reported in the national media when Gloria Bell filed her paternity suit against Karl Malone in 1996. The lawsuit came at the height of Malone's NBA career, when he was perennially considered one of the best players in the league. Moreover, it's public record that Malone and the family settled the case out of court in 1997.

The family never brought charges against Malone when he was in college (mid-1980s), the mother didn't pursue any action until the paternity test some 10-plus years later (mid-1990s), all parties settled the case (circa 1997) and now Malone and the child (Demetress Bell, who played in the NFL) have a father-son relationship.

As for why it's not talked about, it's because it was a case settled nearly 30 years ago! The national media covered this story in the mid-1990s when it happened. And of course Malone can't speak on the matter -- settlement cases usually have non-disclosure clauses that prevent people from speaking about such cases.

So it's not a matter of the story being covered, but people I call "millennial internet detectives" finding an old story, screaming fake outrage and claiming there is some conspiracy to cover it up. The other thing I have noticed is that people are not mentioning Malone and Demetress Bell have reconciled years ago. Bell has an Instagram account and he has posted numerous pictures of him and Malone together, and even has told people in a video to leave his father and family alone about the situation.

[eyeatoma]

Kobe's death was only 3 years ago. I saw how most of you behaved and continue to behave when anyone brings up what happened in Denver.
Those NBA fans should stop embarrassing themselves by talking about Karl Malone. Most of you have no right to do it.

Imagine comparing adultery to a 20 year old man impregnating a 13 year old child. Go away.

I compared sexual assault with statutory rape.
Karl Malone is a PoS. Kobe was a little bit less of a PoS.
If you defend Kobe then you are are the one who is completely full of ****.

The difference is Kobe didn't rape her. A number of men's semen were found when they completed the rape kit, and she was doing this to get money from Kobe. You can believe me on this or not, but I have a friend who knew her, and she admitted to having consensual sex with Kobe to him, and it was all planned so she could get money from him. The biggest crime Kobe committed was cheating on his wife. And that's not even a crime. He did not rape that woman.

[Goomba3666]

The gentleman's award. A man of the people.

[Asianiac_24]

First of all, the girl Kobe had sex with had multiple men’s semen in her vagina when she was examined. So she definitely wasn’t some conservative virgin being forced.

Secondly, he’s Kobe **** Bryant, a handsome rich 24-25 year old superstar in the biggest team in the NBA. I highly, highly doubt he would need to rape anyone.

[rand]

Cry me a river, I’m old enough to remember people never mentioning what Karl did just 20 yrs ago. But now people want him to get cancelled. Let the courts deal with that. This generation sux man , always looking to cancel somebody yet there the main ones with issues and skeletons in their own closets. I’m not defending Karl I’m just pointing out the fake outrage I’m seeing over Karl now. I never heard about this Karl and the 12 yr old story when he was playing.

New age public hangings.

People coming together to point at another so they don't have to face their own sorry asses.

Karl is a straight up OG and would pummel these snowflakes if they dared saying it to his face.

No. You're just garbage so you have no problem with a college athlete ****ing a 13 year old, knocking her up and leaving her and his offspring to fend for themselves.

You're awfully bold behind a keyboard but I'd bet heavily you're too much of a coward to express these ****ed up views when not anonymous.

[Sofia]

And lmao @ Kobe raping a girl.

Puhlease.

Complete money grab by a mentally ill opportunist.

Imagine how pathetic you'd have to be to white knight for that one.

Oof!

this might be your worst post yet

[Sofia]

Imagine comparing adultery to a 20 year old man impregnating a 13 year old child. Go away.

Didn’t Kobe himself admit afterwards that it wasn’t consensual?

I thought Kobe always maintained that it was consensual but because of the power dynamic that he could understand how it might not have been consensual from her perspective? Maybe I'm wrong, but thats what I remember.

“I consented but I don’t know if she did”

That’s rape bro

[Sofia]

she was 13 karl... 13!

She was 12 at time of the incident - she had the baby at 13, inferior candy man.

[cam24thomas]

First of all, the girl Kobe had sex with had multiple men’s semen in her vagina when she was examined. So she definitely wasn’t some conservative virgin being forced.

Secondly, he’s Kobe **** Bryant, a handsome rich 24-25 year old superstar in the biggest team in the NBA. I highly, highly doubt he would need to rape anyone.

But he was married, so couldn't have every girl he wanted, he had to do it secretly and probably in a short space of time....

[YogurtProducer]

First of all, the girl Kobe had sex with had multiple men’s semen in her vagina when she was examined. So she definitely wasn’t some conservative virgin being forced.

Secondly, he’s Kobe **** Bryant, a handsome rich 24-25 year old superstar in the biggest team in the NBA. I highly, highly doubt he would need to rape anyone.

Ah yes, she was a slut so she could not possibly have been raped.

What the ****?

[NZB2323]

Did people just not know about this during his playing career? I find it hard to believe that the story only surfaced after his playing days.

I was a sports reporter in the 1990s, and this story was reported in the national media when Gloria Bell filed her paternity suit against Karl Malone in 1996. The lawsuit came at the height of Malone's NBA career, when he was perennially considered one of the best players in the league. Moreover, it's public record that Malone and the family settled the case out of court in 1997.

The family never brought charges against Malone when he was in college (mid-1980s), the mother didn't pursue any action until the paternity test some 10-plus years later (mid-1990s), all parties settled the case (circa 1997) and now Malone and the child (Demetress Bell, who played in the NFL) have a father-son relationship.

As for why it's not talked about, it's because it was a case settled nearly 30 years ago! The national media covered this story in the mid-1990s when it happened. And of course Malone can't speak on the matter -- settlement cases usually have non-disclosure clauses that prevent people from speaking about such cases.

So it's not a matter of the story being covered, but people I call "millennial internet detectives" finding an old story, screaming fake outrage and claiming there is some conspiracy to cover it up. The other thing I have noticed is that people are not mentioning Malone and Demetress Bell have reconciled years ago. Bell has an Instagram account and he has posted numerous pictures of him and Malone together, and even has told people in a video to leave his father and family alone about the situation.

Is it really “fake outrage,” that a player who impregnated with a 12 year old won “Legend of the Year?”

[NZB2323]

Cry me a river, I’m old enough to remember people never mentioning what Karl did just 20 yrs ago. But now people want him to get cancelled. Let the courts deal with that. This generation sux man , always looking to cancel somebody yet there the main ones with issues and skeletons in their own closets. I’m not defending Karl I’m just pointing out the fake outrage I’m seeing over Karl now. I never heard about this Karl and the 12 yr old story when he was playing.

New age public hangings.

People coming together to point at another so they don't have to face their own sorry asses.

Karl is a straight up OG and would pummel these snowflakes if they dared saying it to his face.

Yes, I’m sure a man who impregnated a 12 year old would have no problems committing assault against those who call him out, but that’s not a good thing.

[Slacktard]

Just because a sportswriter, or producer, or sports radio talk show person in their 20s, 30s, 40s, or older in the 1990s decided they weren't going to continue to criticize and bring up Karl Malone raping a child and let it fall into obscurity, doesn't really mean people today have to sit back and go "Welp... He was allowed to get away with it and go on with his life 25 years ago, so we can't say anything about it today"

Nope... **** that. It's not 'fake' outrage to find a 20 year old sleeping with a 12 year old child disgusting.

[nfmos]

First of all, the girl Kobe had sex with had multiple men’s semen in her vagina when she was examined. So she definitely wasn’t some conservative virgin being forced.

Secondly, he’s Kobe **** Bryant, a handsome rich 24-25 year old superstar in the biggest team in the NBA. I highly, highly doubt he would need to rape anyone.

I honestly never really followed the case closely enough to make a firm opinion, but the defense of Kobe by saying he's a superstar that would not need to rape anyone is one of the most absurd statements ever.

[KodiakBear]

First of all, the girl Kobe had sex with had multiple men’s semen in her vagina when she was examined. So she definitely wasn’t some conservative virgin being forced.

Secondly, he’s Kobe **** Bryant, a handsome rich 24-25 year old superstar in the biggest team in the NBA. I highly, highly doubt he would need to rape anyone.

I honestly never really followed the case closely enough to make a firm opinion, but the defense of Kobe by saying he's a superstar that would not need to rape anyone is one of the most absurd statements ever.

Yeah by that logic no pro athlete should ever be considered a rapist since they are all young successful and rich. Hell it would mean bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein are innocent too since they were successful millionaires who could get women. Cosby was one of the biggest stars of the 80s and Harvey Weinstein was a very successful producer who had a hot young wife before all this came out.

[leolozon]

First of all, the girl Kobe had sex with had multiple men’s semen in her vagina when she was examined. So she definitely wasn’t some conservative virgin being forced.

Secondly, he’s Kobe **** Bryant, a handsome rich 24-25 year old superstar in the biggest team in the NBA. I highly, highly doubt he would need to rape anyone.

Ah yes, she was a slut so she could not possibly have been raped.

What the ****?

I don't like that stories are mixed together, but Kobe admitted he raped her, so I'm not sure why there are still discussions :

"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."

He said he raped her and I'm not sure we want to call HIM a liar.

I wouldn't say that it makes him a bad guy, just someone who didn't realize what was going on at a more problematic time. It seems like he did learn from it.

The Malone situation is way more problematic as it seems like he was never even bothered by it and everyone is acting like it never happened.

[DimesandKnicks]

Kobe's death was only 3 years ago. I saw how most of you behaved and continue to behave when anyone brings up what happened in Denver.
Those NBA fans should stop embarrassing themselves by talking about Karl Malone. Most of you have no right to do it.

Innocent until proven guilty. You should look into the details of the case.

[DimesandKnicks]

And lmao @ Kobe raping a girl.

Puhlease.

Complete money grab by a mentally ill opportunist.

Imagine how pathetic you'd have to be to white knight for that one.

Oof!

It'd be easier to lmao off at the idea of it if Kobe hadn't reportedly given her $1-2 mil to settle and having done that also lost out on a ton more in endorsement money. In short, Kobe knew there would be repercussions to paying her off but still decided it was his best course of action rather than go through the full civil suit and leave it in the hands of a judge or jury. Do I think he raped her? I have no idea but I think it was gray enough that even Kobe had doubts about his innocence. To say otherwise is sort of white knighting for Kobe tbh.

I loved Kobe and when the trial was going on when I was young I was one of those fans hoping that the woman’s name came out and all her business would get out in the open for everyone to see just so Kobe could go free and play. But now that I’m older and I dont just see things from a rabid entertainment fan and I’m willing to also see things from other perspectives the details of the case really dont bode well for Kobe. And when I was young I either didnt care about Kobe’s apology or didnt read it but as an adult reading it all I can think of is if somebody accused me of something so heinous and tried to put me in prison for something I didnt do I damn sure am not apologizing or saying I could see how she thought it wasnt. I dont care what my legal team or management advises

Easier said than done when the alternative is going to jail and losing everything you’ve worked for. It’s easy to say what we would or wouldn’t do when we haven’t come close to being in similiar situations

[DimesandKnicks]

All sexual assault charges were dropped. Gotta love how we went from "innocent until proven guilty" to "guilty even when declared innocent".

They were dropped cause the victim didn’t want to testify after everything she had already endured.

Read the police reports where she gives a detailed account on how Kobe refused to let her leave his room, repeatedly physically intimidated her, how Kobe lied to the police trying to claim he hadn’t even had sex with her. When confronted she had already been examined, he then changed his story that he did have sex with her, when confronted she has bruising, he revealed he always has rough sex with a mistress, read about how he decided to say shaq always pays this off with money and cars and has spent over $1 mil doing so.

Innocent until proven guilty is great an all, but it’s important to recognize an environment where victims can be intimidated and asked to sacrifice the life they had, and how that can affect their willingness to continue to subject themselves to the hurt by testifying in a public setting.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/kobe-bryants-disturbing-rape-case-the-dna-evidence-the-accusers-story-and-the-half-confession

The victim didnt testify because she got a 7 figure "settlement" offer. Take what you for from that. If the same thing happened today he would be toast, it was a different time back then. Same thing with Malone, he does that in todays world and he's in jail.

Kobe did deny it then conceded he had sex with her but it was consensual and asked if he could take a lie detector test. The woman had multiple inconsistencies in her testimony (some would call that lying).

[DimesandKnicks]

Didn't they make it up outside of the court by Bryant giving the victim loads of money.. Just proves that he was indeed guilty. Non guilty would never do such deed.

People settle out of court all the time to save on attorney fees and because they’re not sure how a jury will vote.

If you see the documentary “Pepsi, Where’s My Jet?” Pepsi offered John Leonard $750,000 to settle out of court, but John still wanted a Harrier Jet. When it went to court a judge ordered that Pepsi didn’t have to give him a Harrier Jet, and he got nothing.

Pepsi wasn’t “guilty,” for offering a settlement statement.

I'm agnostic on the Kobe situation, but his apology letter comes across worse than the settlement money. If I was falsely accused of rape, I could see a situation where I would pay a settlement just to end the whole thing and move on, but I would never write that letter that comes across as an acknowledgement that she was a victim. If you are innocent and someone drags you threw a year long trial, you don't apologize for anything.

Writing the letter was part of the settlement