Shelley Smith and Kobe Bryant hadn't talked in 10 years. The ESPN sports personality covered Bryant's rape trial and wrote things he did not agree with.
However, Bryant recently offered Smith an olive branch after her well-chronicled bout with cancer . And while Smith does not appear ungrateful, she certainly isn't buying the new Kobe.
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"Kobe and I started speaking after 10 years," Smith told the New York Post . "I am not sure if it’s because I had cancer or if it’s because he is in a weird place right now — he’s being nice to everybody right now because he wants to go out being beloved.
"I covered his rape trial in Colorado and there were things I reported that he disagreed with. He told me he’d never speak to me again, and this was 10 years ago. It was real nasty and awkward. At media day this year, Lakers PR came over and said he’d do an interview and he came up to me and gave me a big hug. My jaw hit the floor."
Smith went on to say she isn't the only one who thinks Bryant is putting on an act and that he just wants to be beloved leaving the game.
"I don’t quite buy it," Smith said. "Everyone I talk to, no one believes it, because he wants to go out beloved like [Michael] Jordan did. He wants to go off into the sunset as a superhero, but we all remember how badly he treated a lot of us."
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According to Smith, Bryant's salty antics may have cost him connections to stay within the basketball world, but that he won't be hurting for a job in other realms.
"I would be surprised if he stayed in basketball because he burned bridges coming up with players, coaches and front-office personnel," she said. "I think he’ll go into some sort of business. He’s very smart business-wise and he has a great brand."