December 13, 200421 yr espn.com LOS ANGELES -- The Kobe Bryant-Karl Malone feud has turned personal, with Bryant accusing Malone of making a pass at his wife at a game. "He was like a mentor, like a brother to me, so when something like that happens, you're upset, you're hurt," Bryant said Sunday night before the Los Angeles Lakers played the Orlando Magic. Malone has been recuperating from knee surgery, and last Tuesday his agent said he didn't plan to return to the Lakers because of comments Bryant made in a radio interview. Bryant spoke about the Lakers having to look over their shoulders, wondering whether Malone was going to play again. Malone's agent, Dwight Manley, said then that Malone was furious at Bryant, and also said private, personal attacks were involved, but would not elaborate. Bryant elaborated plenty on Sunday. He said he had phoned Malone, who has a home near Bryant's in Newport Beach, after Vanessa Bryant told her husband on Nov. 23 that Malone had made inappropriate comments to her that night at the game at Staples Center. Bryant said he called Malone and told him, "Stay away from my wife. What's wrong with you? How could you?" Malone was unavailable for comment Sunday. The Los Angeles Times reported Vanessa Bryant invited Malone to bring his child to where she was seated during the Lakers' game against the Bucks last month. Malone, seated courtside and wearing cowboy boots and a hat, obliged. Malone and Vanessa Bryant hugged, Manley told the Times. Then Vanessa Bryant asked Malone, "Hey, cowboy, what are you hunting?" Manley said. "She said it twice," Manley told the Times, "and Karl answered the second time, 'I'm hunting for little Mexican girls.' " Manley, however, told the Times: "Karl wants to give you two messages. He never hit on Vanessa, nor would he. In fact, when he first heard (the accusations), he said, 'You have to be kidding me.' As for the comments he made to her that offended her personally, he told both her and Kobe that night that he apologized." Manley told The Associated Press that Malone said he had never made a pass at Bryant's wife, and that he initially was surprised at the accusation. "Karl's response to Kobe's comments {Sunday} is that he's a basketball player and not a soap opera actor and he doesn't intend to be involved in a personal soap opera,'' Manley told the AP. Bryant said he obviously was surprised by Malone's remarks to his wife. "The comments that he said, I don't know any man in this room that wouldn't be upset about that," Bryant said in the Lakers' locker room. "The past month, myself, my wife, (Malone's wife) Kaye, we've had fun together. "We've been out to their house, just joking around, giving each other a hard time, just clowning, being sarcastic with one another, baby-sitting kids and all that." Asked if there could have been a misunderstanding, Bryant said, "What he said is what he said. I believe in my heart that it wasn't a misunderstanding. "My wife wasn't going to stand for it. She felt uncomfortable being around him to the point that she felt she had to call his wife and tell her." Bryant said Malone didn't deny making the comments, and told him during their phone conversation, "Aw, you know, I'm sorry if I said anything that was out of line." Malone, 41, told the Lakers on Oct. 1 he was still recovering from arthroscopic surgery he underwent three months earlier on his right knee and wasn't ready to play. But he didn't rule out returning at some point this season or beyond. Malone, the second-leading scorer in NBA history, opted out of his $1.65 million contract following last season, making him a free agent. Despite his obvious anger toward Malone, Bryant said he would be able to separate his personal feelings if Malone should rejoin the Lakers. "If he could come back and play for us and help us out, I'm happy to embrace him as a teammate," Bryant said. "But only as a teammate." Bryant is the defendant in a civil lawsuit accusing him of rape. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for pain, scorn and ridicule the woman says she has suffered since her encounter with Bryant at the Vail-area resort where she worked in June 2003. :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol
December 13, 200421 yr Malone's a pimp. If Kobe gives him any trouble he can just give him the old Karl Malone elbow to the Face. That should allow him to have enough time to make babies with Vanessa :plain
December 13, 200421 yr :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol I couldnt stop laughing reading this article, this is 'Days of our lives' type crap, LMAO Karl is the man ! "You know me"
December 13, 200421 yr seriously?! sounds like joke to me ... a little bit of country ... not so much an out and out pass the arrogant one is way over-reacting .... and it's not like a malone fan or anything ... but seriously
December 13, 200421 yr seriously?! sounds like joke to me ... a little bit of country ... not so much an out and out pass the arrogant one is way over-reacting .... and it's not like a malone fan or anything ... but seriously 634068[/snapback] Agreed 100 percent. I jokingly flirt with girls that I am friends with, but have boyfriends all the time, and the boyfriends couldn't give a s*** less (although i'm cool with the boyfriends normally, but I digress....) Kobe is WAY over reacting here, this just sounds like joking around between the mailman and Vanessa. And oh yeah, I think Kobe lost his right to whine about if his wife is flirting with somebody else (jokingly or not) when he boned a little blonde white girl (with her consent or not) in a Colorado hotel in the summer of 2003.
December 13, 200421 yr exactly since vanessa got upset about the actions does that mean that karl has to buy her a $4M rock?! or is this hyper sensitivity part of Kobe's penance for taking advantage of his celebrity
December 13, 200421 yr kobe probably saw major league a while ago and started thinking about his wife after that incident with dorn's wife and vaughn.
December 13, 200421 yr This is how it works: First I hit Venessa Then I hit a white chick Then I buy Venessa a make-up ring And finally I hit on Karl /the mind of Kobe
December 14, 200421 yr is that really his accuser?? and yes I will get crucified for ths, but Kobe is my favorite player in the nba! So stop with the haterade. o yea i would hit vanessa also!
December 14, 200421 yr Yeah thats the accuser. You should google images up with her name, she has some raunchy stuff.
December 15, 200421 yr Thats her: Id hit it. 635340[/snapback] But would you rape it? :whistle :plain
December 15, 200421 yr My god Kobe, why would you cheat on Vanessa with her?? 635465[/snapback] cause she a whittii
December 15, 200421 yr i fail to see what kobe is upset about. if you ask me, vanessa provoked karl to give him the type of response that he did, and i still can't see why kobe is mad about that.
December 15, 200421 yr i fail to see what kobe is upset about. if you ask me, vanessa provoked karl to give him the type of response that he did, and i still can't see why kobe is mad about that. 635589[/snapback] That's what I was thinking as well. Malone continues to show dominance.
December 16, 200421 yr Ok if you our at you job, or playing ball, and one of your best friends hits on your girl what would you do?
December 16, 200421 yr Ok if you our at you job, or playing ball, and one of your best friends hits on your girl what would you do? 636215[/snapback] I would answer that truthfully, but that would require some thing that people would frown upon on here, but I will say this. Its always good to have a woman other men want. :mischief
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