Josh Pollick: Kobe: from chosen son to pariah

When Los Angeles acquired Kobe Bryant from Charlotte in 1996, the Lakers organization and community adopted the youthful, innocent 18- year-old into their extended family.

They stuck with Bryant through his first two years of growing pains, and celebrated with him during his many individual and team accomplishments.

Nearly 11 months ago, Kobe Bryant was charged with sexual assault. The Lakers organization immediately showed their support for Bryant by hosting the press conference at Staples Center. And Lakers fans followed suit.

Indeed, throughout this last year, "Ko-be" and "MVP" chants for Bryant were even more common than in past seasons.

Kobe's miraculous, almost unfathomable last-second heroics against Denver, Portland and Detroit -- just to name a few -- surely contributed to Lakers fans' loyalty to Bryant.

Ultimately, though, they stand by him because he is part of their family and he is in trouble. They support him as any family would.

But one "family" has not extended public support to Kobe.

I am not referring to his immediate family, who for whatever reason did not all come out and affirm their commitment to Bryant.

I am referring to Kobe's extended family during his early teenage years: Lower Merion High School, located just a short train ride away from Penn.

As an LA native, I came to Penn hoping to visit the obvious historical sites in Philly. But there was another, non-historic but nevertheless well-known place amongst basketball fans that I wanted to see and experience -- Lower Merion.

Like any die-hard fan, I wanted to see the courts where Bryant practiced, the halls in which he walked, the teachers with whom he learned.

During my freshman year, I never made it over to Lower Merion. But after the rape charge was announced in the summer leading into my sophomore year, I decided to go.

I wanted to find out what teachers and students thought about Bryant following the charge.

Upon arriving at the school, I was sent from one office to another, one administrator to another, who all told me to leave.

The Principal asked me to leave each of the four times I visited the school: "You have no right to talk to our students!"

A few months earlier, I visited several public and private schools in Philadelphia as I conducted research on children's eating habits. Never had I encountered such resistance in my requests to speak to students.

It seems the objections that Lower Merion administrators had about me speaking with students, but rather the content of our conversations.

The assistant to the director of communications insisted that "we wish Kobe all the best but as far as we're concerned, we have nothing to do with him anymore."

Nevertheless, I made it into Lower Merion and spoke to two basketball coaches and to twenty-five students (several teachers I approached refused interviews).

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Inside the cramped, windowless Lower Merion basketball office, Gregg Downer sits at his small desk. A "Magna Cum Kobe"-titled Philadelphia Inquirer article is pinned to the bulletin board, stating Kobe's first championship came during the same month he would have graduated college.

For Downer, Kobe's professional success validates the coach's undying support for his former player -- even now when Kobe faces charges of rape.

"It's unbelievably out of character," he said. "It's not the Kobe Bryant I know."

Downer still maintains a relationship with Kobe. He sees him two to three times per year. Kobe visits the school each time he's in Philly to play the 76ers. Kobe worked out at Lower Merion in 2001 when he came back to Philly for his grandfather's funeral.

"I know Kobe to be a tremendous person," Downer added. "I'm hopeful that he'll get through this and be a better man for it."

This attitude -- that it was uncharacteristic of Kobe and that he will be acquitted -- seems to be shared by most teachers at Lower Merion and students who have a sibling who knew Kobe or students who know nothing about Kobe at all. Indeed, 25 Lower Merion students randomly surveyed all believe Kobe will be acquitted.

The Oct. 17, 2003, issue of The Merionite, Lower Merion's 16-page bimonthly newspaper, featured a "community response" to the Kobe case. The word "innocent" appears six times on the page; "guilty" zero.

In it, teacher John Osipowicz is quoted as saying: "It's not the person I knew. It's a mistake, an aberration. He really isn't and wasn't that way."

But some are more reluctant to openly support Kobe. One junior boy described his English and history teachers as having bragged about instructing Kobe. But that was last year.

"They used to talk about Kobe being a good writer and that you could tell by his articulate speech," he said. "Since the case started, they stopped talking about him."

An assistant basketball coach -- who wished to remain nameless -- struggled to find words to express his reaction to the case.

"I was very shocked and disheartened when I heard," he said slowly, with his head down. "I'm waiting for the end of the trial. I don't follow the details. It's too painful. I choose to remember the Kobe I knew."

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Kobe's accolades are spread throughout the school. In the main gymnasium, his autographed red-and-yellow #33 Lower Merion jersey is framed. Below it is a white-and-green banner listing Kobe's awards from his senior season.

In the athletics office, there are two photos of Kobe, a high school all-America certificate, and a letter from the House congratulating Lower Merion on its championship. But each of these items is stowed in the back, not visible from the entrance. "Otherwise, they'll get stolen," the receptionist explained.

That's why it cost $20 to attend Kobe's retirement ceremony: Kobe's a "god" at Lower Merion, said one junior boy, who has never met the NBA superstar.

That's why Bryant often comes to work out at Lower Merion when he's in Philly but refused Downer's request to speak to the teams.

"As soon as he enters the hallways, everyone knows," Downer said.

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Bryant is a legend at Lower Merion and yet the administration has seemingly cut its ties from him.

I completely understand fans that no longer wear Kobe jerseys. I understand that it's not easy to openly and publicly support a rape suspect. Even Bryant's own family has not publicly backed the superstar. It's difficult for me to cheer for him, but to me there is a difference between cheering Bryant as a basketball player and supporting Bryant as a rape suspect.

And yet, it seems Lower Merion is wrong to abandon Bryant when he needs support most.

The fact that all but one of Kobe's immediate family has not supported him is a separate matter. Bryant guided Lower Merion to its first state championship in 32 years. His former teachers bragged about having taught him. But now that he faces a rape charge, they "have nothing to do with him anymore."

What ever happened to 'innocent until proven guilty'? And what ever happened to a family sticking by its kin during times of need?

The randomly surveyed students support Bryant. Coach Downer certainly backs his old player. But for the school as a whole -- the principal who ordered me to leave, the media relations office who declared their break from Bryant, the teachers who no longer mention his name -- Kobe Bryant has been demoted from chosen child to pariah.

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