Kobe: Refurbishing an Image

After the Jazz’s win over the Lakers, Wednesday night, Kobe Bryant was as gracious as ever. He was effusive in his praise of Deron Williams.

Most reporters left with the feeling that, yeah, Kobe’s a pretty good guy.
Amazing what acting like a good guy can do — even if you’ve had problems.
In case you’re a famous athlete, here are some tips on protecting/revamping your image.

First, act normal. A few years ago, Bryant was one of the most despised athletes in the world. That’s because a Colorado woman accused him of sexual assault. That case was dismissed, but for awhile, Bryant was radioactive – nobody wanted to get near him. Now they’re promoting him on NBA commercials.

The reason? He has restored his image by being smart, agreeable, accessible to the media and likable. And by doing good things afterward.

Second, stay away from additional bad publicity. Latrell Sprewell throttled his coach, but later turned down down a multi-million dollar contract offer by saying he had a family to feed. He never changed his image.

Pacman Jones isn’t likely to refurbish his persona, either, after so many incidents.

Another tip: Be funny. Charles Barkley has dodged trouble for years, even though he has often made sexist and racist statements. He has admitted to gambling problems and once threw a guy through a bar window.

It’s all in the delivery. Barkley has escaped numerous problems by simply being disarming.

Still, the recent DUI incident took some of the shine off.One more such occurrence and he’ll have real damage control on his hands.

Lastly, come clean. Everyone hates Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, because they continue to belligerently insist they didn’t take steroids or didn’t “knowingly” take them. Bryant held a tearful press conference to apologize after his incident in Colorado. Alex Rodriguez – after being unmasked – went on TV and made a decent apology.

Unlike Clemens, whose “apology” was simply vague references to nondescript “mistakes,” A-Rod gave dates and specifics.

People want to forgive mistakes, as long as someone fesses up. And they love to forgive likable people.

The Clemens and Bonds of the world may never understand that.