The suspension of a Washington Post reporter who referred to a 2003 sexual assault charge against Kobe Bryant on Twitter in the hours after his death led to an uproar among the newspaper’s staff members.

It wasn’t the first time the N.B.A. star had been at the center of a debate at The Post.

On Monday, more than 300 newsroom employees signed a letter sharply critical of top editors who had placed the reporter, Felicia Sonmez, on administrative leave while they reviewed her social media activity. In an article that same day, Erik Wemple, a media columnist for The Post, called the suspension “misguided.” On Tuesday, the newspaper announced that Ms. Sonmez had not violated The Post’s social media guidelines and allowed her to go back to work.

The tension in the newsroom was partly about how the paper’s journalists use social media. But it also concerned differing opinions of Mr. Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash Sunday along with eight others, including his daughter Gianna. Was the reputation of the man who led the Los Angeles Lakers to five championships irreparably tarnished by the 2003 allegations?

This week, journalists at The Post recalled an earlier time when a disagreement concerning Mr. Bryant had divided the newsroom. It happened in October 2018, when Mr. Bryant was given a welcome worthy of a V.I.P. at the paper’s Franklin Square headquarters in downtown Washington.