Basketball great LeBron James has jumped into the Gayle King-Kobe Bryant controversy. King has been in the hot seat over an interview she conducted with WNBA icon Lisa Leslie in which King asked Leslie about Bryant being accused of sexual assault in 2003 and the effect it would have on Kobes legacy. Leslie was one of Bryant’s best friends.
James made his opinion known in a tweet in which he praised Leslie while chastising King. Kobe, who died with his daughter and seven others late last month in a helicopter crash, was accused of raping a 19-year-old Colorado resort employee in 2003. The charges were later dropped, though the accused went on to sue Bryant, who settled with her out of court.
“It’s been said that his legacy is complicated because of a sexual assault charge, which was dismissed in 2003, 2004,” Gayle said to Leslie in the interview. “Is it complicated for you as a woman, as a WNBA player?”
“It’s not complicated for me at all,” Leslie responded. “Even if there’s a few times that we’ve been at a club at the same time, Kobe’s not the kind of guy — never been, like, you know, ‘Lis, go get that girl, or tell her or send her this.’ I have other NBA friends that are like that. Kobe was never like that.”
“I just never, have ever seen him being the kind of person that would do something to violate a woman or be aggressive in that way,” Leslie continued. “That’s just not the person that I know.”
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“I just don’t believe that. And I’m not saying things didn’t happen,” Leslie was saying of the allegations. “I just don’t believe that things [happened] with force.”
In response to the interview, James tweeted: “Protect @LisaLeslie at all cost! You’re a real Superhero!! Sorry you had to through that s*%#!!! We are our own worse enemies!”
