Man, if you're going to mention the rape case, don't just sprinkle it in there out of obligation. Using jargon like "complicated" is an easy way to glide past it. You can just write why someone who was so heroic to millions of people also represented rape culture at its fullest.
It's not that hard to see that your heroes can be seen in a different light by others, especially when they did do terrible things. And the fact that you wouldn't have to say "now's not the time" if the time to talk about it ever actually existed.
So many people, including the media, helped him rehabilitate after the case without ever reckoning with what he did. Because great athletes are heroes and we need them to be flattened as good. The entire "Black Mamba" idea was transforming that case into a positive.
What happened was what always happens, a powerful man was accused and people shamed the accuser and then went past the issue as quickly as possible. It's not unfair that some are still bitter about that and what it says about our world and how we value women.
Every great thing Kobe did afterwards, his support for women's sports, his love for his children and the youth, his new adventure into other ventures, was wonderful. But it's not up to fans to grant him a redemption for that rape case. Redemption starts at the people you hurt.
If he's never forgiven for that, then that's just it. That's the problem with hurting someone, you can't go and erase it and the power to fix it is not in your hands. But being mad at him not being forgiven for it, is being mad that the victim won't let you be comfortable.
It's not an impossible thing to reckon with, nor does it have to take away from grief and how important he was to so many people. But you can't use "flawed" as an escape. That's too cowardly.
