*WNBA champion and Olympic gold medalist Lisa Leslie is speaking out about her longtime friendship with Kobe Bryant, praising the late NBA legend for changing perceptions on women’s basketball.
“He was really making change,” Leslie told “CBS This Morning” co-host Gayle King, noting his 13-year-old daughter Gianna’s interest in the sport and how Bryant was often spotted at WNBA games because she wanted to see certain players.
“He was changing the mindsets of other men more than anybody else. He’s validating us, if you will, these young ladies who are out there playing, the fact that he’s enjoying and being entertained by great basketball,” she added.
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.@WNBA legend @LisaLeslie told @GayleKing that Kobe Bryant’s legacy is “not complicated” for her despite his 2003 rape accusation.
“I don’t think it’s something that we should keep hanging over his legacy.” https://t.co/qj6MVvOaqX pic.twitter.com/9qtVORobLO
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) February 4, 2020
Leslie, who had known Bryant since he was 18 years old, also defended her friend in wake of his death, saying his legacy will not be tarnished over the 2003 rape allegation against him.
“That’s just not the person that I know,” she said of the allegations, per Daily Mail.
“It’s not complicated for me at all. 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, “Lis, go get that girl, or tell her, or send her this”.
“i have other NBA friends that are like that. Kobe, he was never like that.”
Bryant’s criminal case never went to trial as the alleged victim refused to testify in court, but the later settled with the woman in civil court.
When asked if that was because she was Bryant’s friend Leslie replied: “That’s possible. I just don’t believe that, and I’m not saying things didn’t happen. I just don’t believe that things didn’t happen with force.”
Leslie calls out the media for not being more respectful, saying: “It’s like if you had questions about it, you had many years to ask him that. I don’t think it’s something that we should keep hanging over his legacy.’”
Scroll up and hear more from Leslie via the clips above.
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