Bryant Claims O'Neal Paid Off Women

[MrRant 0]

By Jeff Benedict, Tim Brown and Steve Henson Special to The Times

 

Hours after his sexual encounter with a hotel employee in Colorado, Kobe Bryant told investigators that Shaquille O'Neal, his Laker teammate at the time, had paid up to $1 million to women to keep them quiet about "situations like this," according to a police report.

 

An Eagle County, Colo., detective wrote in a report that Bryant made the comment near the end of a lengthy interrogation on July 2, 2003, about allegations that Bryant had raped the woman, then 19, in his resort hotel room.

 

O'Neal was informed of the comment last September, about two weeks before Laker training camp opened in Hawaii, when prosecution investigators made an unsuccessful attempt to question him. His agent, Perry Rogers, said Tuesday that the allegation in Bryant's statement was untrue and "undeserving of a response."

 

Much of Bryant's 75-minute interview was tape-recorded, but Det. Doug Winters wrote that the reference to O'Neal came after his partner, Det. Dan Loya, had turned off the recorder.

 

The incident report, a portion of which was reviewed by the Los Angeles Times, is part of the sealed file in the criminal case that was brought against Bryant last year and dropped this month. A Colorado judge has a motion before him to unseal documents from the case.

 

"Bryant made a comment to us about what another teammate does in situations like these," Winters wrote. "Bryant stated he should have done what Shaq (Shaquille O'Neal) does. Bryant stated that Shaq would pay his women not to say anything. He stated Shaq has paid up to a million dollars already for situations like this. He stated he, Bryant, treats a woman with respect, therefore they shouldn't say anything."

 

In a closed court proceeding before the felony charge was dropped, Bryant's attorneys fought successfully to have the reference to O'Neal declared inadmissible at trial, according to a prosecution source.

 

It is unclear precisely what Bryant meant by the remarks attributed to him. There have been no published reports of O'Neal ever being accused of any sex crime.

 

He was charged with misdemeanor battery in Orange County, Fla., in 1998 after a 23-year-old Walt Disney World employee claimed he grabbed her neck, but the case was dismissed in 2000. Rogers said Tuesday that he did not know whether O'Neal confronted Bryant about the comments before or during the 2003-04 season. Two members of last season's Laker team, reached by telephone, said they were unaware of Bryant's purported comments and that there had been no obvious change in a relationship that was strained for years.

 

"It didn't have any impact on the relationship," Rogers said, "because Shaquille had a very professional approach to his career there and because he has had an understanding of Kobe, Kobe's interests and Kobe's priorities. Kobe has historically been shown to be interested in one person and one person alone."

 

Bryant's agent and attorneys did not return calls seeking comment.

 

The reference was first reported by Sports Illustrated, which did not name O'Neal.

 

The remark attributed to Bryant figured in an effort last year by investigators to interview O'Neal in connection with the criminal case against his longtime teammate — an effort that ended in failure.

 

According to sources involved in the investigation, the authorities wanted to ask O'Neal about a party he held at his Orlando, Fla., mansion on Thanksgiving 2002, when a 22-year-old waitress working at the gathering claimed Bryant had groped her. They also wanted any information O'Neal could offer about Bryant's behavior on road trips.

 

Under Colorado law, prosecutors can introduce evidence of conduct that shows a similar pattern of behavior. Prosecutors wanted the waitress to cooperate as a potential witness against Bryant, the sources said.

 

After initially calling prosecutors to tell her story, she declined to meet with prosecution investigator Ray Birch when he arrived in Orlando, according to relatives of the woman and sources involved in the investigation.

 

But prosecutors viewed her account of the night at O'Neal's house as too important to drop, so they dispatched Birch to Los Angeles in an attempt to interview the center.

 

 

 

He was joined by an investigator with the Los Angeles County district attorney's office. On Sept. 22, 2003, they called Rogers, who referred them to O'Neal's attorney, David Chesnoff. At first, Birch said in an interview, Chesnoff was reluctant to produce O'Neal.

 

In a phone conversation on Sept. 24, they read to Chesnoff the statement that Bryant had allegedly made about O'Neal.

 

"That's when we were sure we would get that interview," Birch said. "We showed him our hand, and he complimented us on our professionalism."

 

Investigators thought they had an agreement to meet O'Neal at 10 a.m. on Sept. 26 in the Los Angeles area, but the meeting never materialized. That night they finally reached Chesnoff, who told them it was not in O'Neal's best interest to participate in the investigation, Birch said.

 

Chesnoff said Tuesday that when he told O'Neal about the remarks attributed to Bryant, he did not seem agitated. "I was so impressed with his maturity and the intelligence with which he dealt with it," he said.

 

The effort to interview O'Neal came as the Lakers were beginning training camp for the 2003-04 NBA season, one in which they were championship favorites because of the acquisition of highly regarded veterans Karl Malone and Gary Payton.

 

However, the season was filled with controversy and ended in disappointment, with the Lakers losing in the finals to the Detroit Pistons. O'Neal requested a trade and was sent to the Miami Heat, and Coach Phil Jackson departed. Bryant remained a Laker, signing a seven-year, $136-million contract in July despite the uncertainty of the criminal case.

 

Friction between Bryant and O'Neal was a constant in their eight Laker seasons. Even before they played a regular-season game together, O'Neal began calling Bryant "Showboat" and "Hollywood."

 

O'Neal slapped Bryant during a pickup game in January 1999, and later that season the 7-foot-1 center would point across the locker room and tell reporters that Bryant was the team's problem.

 

For his part, Bryant seemed perplexed at O'Neal's attitude toward him. "It can't be a personality thing, because I really don't know the guy that much," Bryant said at the time. "I don't really hang around him that much."

 

The two superstars set their egos aside long enough to lead the Lakers to three consecutive NBA championships, beginning in 2000. O'Neal even acknowledged Bryant's contribution, saying, "I think he's the best player in the league. By far." Bryant said he was shocked by the comments.

 

The sniping and backbiting began anew last fall, however. Bryant was one day late to training camp, but O'Neal dismissed his absence, saying, "The full team is here." A few weeks later, O'Neal suggested that Bryant become more of a passer than a scorer until he fully recovered from knee and shoulder surgeries.

 

Bryant was incensed, saying, "I definitely don't need advice on how to play my game."

 

Despite an edict by team officials that both players cease the sniping, Bryant went on a rant about O'Neal in an interview with ESPN and was fined $2,500.

 

All season, O'Neal knew of the comments that detectives claimed Bryant had said about him.

 

Said Rogers, O'Neal's agent: "It wasn't difficult to figure out that in this situation Kobe was a desperate man in a desperate situation and made desperate statements."

 

Benedict is a freelance writer; Brown and Henson are Times staff writers.

 

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...eofonealpayouts

[Guest player]

I have no respect for Kobe now. No matter what, you DON'T snitch on other people.

 

Even though, in this case, I know for a fact that Shaq has cheated on his wife. My uncle once saw him in a parking lot smooching some other chick. No joke.

[Dangerous A 0]

Whether or not O'Neal did or didn't cheat on his wife is irrelevant. This looks to me like Bryant trying to shift some of this situation away from himself and onto others. His rep is already taking a hit and he's mad, so he publicly goes after the one guy he really can't stand in the league, Shaq.

 

I am no big fan of either, but this just reeks of desperation on Kobe's part. Nice to see his true colors.

[Guest Staravenger]

Anyone want to chip in on sending a truckload of diapers to Kobes mansion and a giant sign that says "Grow the Fuck Up"?

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

This is like two preschoolers who got in trouble.

 

What's next? Are they going to take it to the parking lot and proceed to slap each other like a couple of girls?

[Guest fanofcoils]

Kobe does what he wants without caring what others think, therefore if he wanted to rape that girl he would have.

[The Man in Blak 0]

In other news, the sun was seen rising east of town. Chief of Police and meteorologist Kobe Bryant speculates that the fiery star will be setting down west of the city sometime around the end of the day. Stay tuned for additional details.

[starvenger 0]

I have no respect for Kobe now. No matter what, you DON'T snitch on other people.

 

Even though, in this case, I know for a fact that Shaq has cheated on his wife. My uncle once saw him in a parking lot smooching some other chick. No joke.

Probably all B-Ball players get it on with hoops rats. Well, except for Doug Christie, because his wife probably had a GPS embedded under his skin...

 

But yeah, that was not cool, Kobe. Trying to deflect the heat by blaming others.

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

har har, Blak funny.

 

keep in mind Kobe said this in an interrogation over a year ago, it's not like he's trying to smear Shaq or something. And I am a card carrying Kobe hater. I'm buying NBA 2K5 just to not give him shots and then listen to him bitch and moan.

[UZI Suicide 0]

I dont think it's that big of a deal. I mean, I can't even imagine the pressure Kobe was under at that time, and considering he even snitched himself out for having an affair with a girl named Michelle, I don't think he thought that would ever hit the public, so I don't think he intentionally tried to bring down Shaq's career or anything.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

No, this is worse. This isn't just try to ruin someone in public. This is telling the POLICE that someone has admitted to you that they were committing crimes.

[Guest Vitamin X]

What crime is that? What Kobe was saying is that Shaq had paid girls off about groupie sex, not rape. As far as I know, that's not really illegal, aside from maybe being grounds for divorce.

 

If this was CE, I'd say this was FLUFF~ But it isn't.

[TSA09 0]

And from ESPN Shaq's response:

 

"This whole situation is ridiculous. I never hang out with Kobe, I never hung around him," O'Neal told ESPN's Stephen A. Smith. "In the 7 or 8 years we were together, we were never together. So how this guy can think he knows anything about me or my business is funny.

 

 

"And one last thing -- I'm not the one buying love. He's the one buying love."

 

SOURCE: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1891629

 

Well at least Shaq speaks his mind, especially in his parting note.

[Dangerous A 0]

Bottom line here is what the fuck is Kobe Bryant doing bringing up Shaq's name during police questioning when Shaq had nothing to do with it? It isn't that Kobe did anything illegal, but it shows you the kind of person he is, which is a bad guy who can't be trusted. On ATH and Stephen A Smith have said, this is going to hurt Kobe in the lockeroom as a leader because no one can trust him anymore. He just proved when the going gets tough, he is going to pin it on someone else. No one in that lockeroom can confide in him about anything because they see Kobe will throw them under a bus if he can.

 

Stephen A Smith also eluded that the rest of the league is also upset at what Kobe did and may look to take some shots at him. Kobe has very much isolated himself from a lot of players in the league at this point. Basically, the Lakers season last year was over as soon as Shaq found out about this, which according to reports was 2 weeks before the start of last year's training camp. LA Times Bill Platchke said that all the LA reporters were wondering why Shaq was starting up the feud so early last year. I think we got our reason why. The difference is Shaq kept this to himself as opposed to blabber mouth Bryant.

[1234-5678 0]

Didn't Sting and Luger have a similar situation where Stinger snitched on Lexy after he found God?

 

Anyway, Shaq should sue the balls off of Kobe for defamation of character.

[Guest Vitamin X]

If Shaq can sue for that, how many people can Kobe sue for the exact same thing...

[NoCalMike 0]

This shows Kobe's character as a person. There was no reason to even bring up Shaq's name in any context during his line of question as it bore no relevence to his own situation.

[LooseCannon25 0]

I'm a Laker fan and Kobe really disspointed me with that. The man has no character, and turns into a bitch when the heat is on. Really makes me question being a Laker fan cause i'm really starting to dislike him alot.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Remember when Bryant was booed lustily at the Philly All-Star game, and everyone criticized the fans? Turns out we were just ahead of the curve.

[Guest Vitamin X]

This is the most unimportant piece of news I've seen. Who the hell gives a fuck? Why does any of it matter? "Oh this just goes to show what kind of person Kobe is." Now, I wouldn't exactly condone what he said on ratting out Shaq, but it's not like they were ever best of friends. And who better to put heat on than the guy he dislikes the most?

 

Said Rogers, O'Neal's agent: "It wasn't difficult to figure out that in this situation Kobe was a desperate man in a desperate situation and made desperate statements."

 

That's basically what I think about all this. You can't judge any person, athlete, celebrity, or otherwise on what you hear about in the media, especially not personally. Has anyone else here ever heard of an offhand comment being blown up to ridiculous proportions? That's what I see with this one.

 

Total fluff. Move on.

[Spicy McHaggis 0]

Has anyone else here ever heard of an offhand comment being blown up to ridiculous proportions? That's what I see with this one.

Beyond that, it's an alleged comment that happened to be made after the tape recorder was turned off. It was deemed inadmissible. Obviously, the state has been embarassed in their unfair attempt to go after an innocent man. If they can't get Kobe in prison, they'll tear down his image and character.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Has anyone else here ever heard of an offhand comment being blown up to ridiculous proportions? That's what I see with this one.

Beyond that, it's an alleged comment that happened to be made after the tape recorder was turned off. It was deemed inadmissible. Obviously, the state has been embarassed in their unfair attempt to go after an innocent man. If they can't get Kobe in prison, they'll tear down his image and character.

I think adultery and sexual deviance did a good enough job on its own.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Like noone has ever been accused of THAT before in professional sports and come out just fine..

 

There's been entirely too much media attention on this for it to be anything but negative.

[Spicy McHaggis 0]

Right. And I'm not excusing Kobe's adultery, btw. But he is/was innocent and the sheriff and d.a. got away with a lot of shady stuff, they spent a lot of money, and they failed. Remember, this is an alleged comment that Kobe has yet to comment on. I think it speaks volumes on Shaq's character the petty way he has responded. He seems to have forgotten that they have a BASKETBALL feud.

[Guest Shoes Head]

I have no respect for Kobe now. No matter what, you DON'T snitch on other people.

Yeah, because spoiled brat, european-black kids are soooooo gangsta to begin with.

 

EDIT: Oh, and an NBA basketball player cheating on his wife? I've never heard of such a thing. I think the FAITHFUL NBA player would be the exception. These guys have gotten pampered their entire lives - what makes you think they'd be faithful husbands?

[ant_7000 0]

Why Shaq has to pay for love when he got a fine ass wife at home. Kobe did a bitch move right there.

 

Shaq's wifey>>>>>>>>>>Kobe's wifey and accuser