I haven't commented on Kobe, too busy watching this train wreck of a thread. But I have seen and heard some of the coverage on TV, it's unavoidable. The common denominator seems to be that people who actually knew him and worked with him seemed to really respect and revere the guy. Not knowing him myself, that tells me something. More than reading the opinions of people who knew nothing of him.
I never really like him as a ballplayer, because he had that reputation of being arrogant, aloof, and not a good teammate. Having said that, he came right out of high school and was pretty much an instant star and millionaire. I can't say I would've been any different, and if being arrogant was his biggest fault, I could overlook that. Especially since he outgrew that and did a lot of good things after he retired. And I'm not buying the "victim's" story either, my son's friend knew her and her reputation was not stellar. Women threw themselves at him, and he cheated on his wife. That's between him, his wife, and his maker.
Any time someone as famous as Kobe dies, people grieve. It's just the world we live in. Not really worth getting your blood pressure elevated.
