Just about every day, we are greeted by news of another woman bravely saying, “Me too.” Victims and survivors of sexual harassment and assault have found a voice, and 2017 will be remembered for their testimony. It will also be remembered for celebrities who have lost their careers because of alleged misconduct.

In the midst of all of this, there is a sports celebration fit for a king Monday. Kobe Bryant, one of the best basketball players who ever lived, will have both of his Lakers numbers retired at Staples Center in Los Angeles. It’s a time to look back on his incredible legacy. It’s also a time to ask if his 2003 rape case would have had more of an effect on that legacy if the “Me Too” era had started a generation sooner.

In 2003, Bryant was visiting Colorado in advance of a scheduled surgery. At a resort in Edwards, located between Vail and Eagle, he invited a 19-year-old hotel employee to his room and asked for a tour of the property. They had sex, and Bryant has always insisted it was consensual. The woman insisted Bryant became violent and raped her. Charges against the Lakers star were dismissed more than a year after the encounter because the woman was unwilling to testify. A civil case was eventually settled. Bryant maintained his stellar career.

Over the long term, there has been little damage to Bryant’s reputation. He has made millions in endorsements since his case was dismissed. The Lakers gave him a $136 million contract one year after he was accused. Bryant was feted at every NBA stop on his retirement tour two years ago, and his final game was basically 48 minutes of clear-out basketball. During that time there was very little mention of what happened in 2003.

“Sports seems to be this bizarro world,” says Brenda Tracy, a member of the NCAA’s committee to combat sexual violence . “None of the rules that apply to other aspects of our culture seem to apply with sports. I don’t know if that’s because sports is the religion of our country.”

In the past several weeks alone, famous people from other walks of life have lost their careers from accusations without legal outcomes: journalists Matt Lauer and Charlie Rose, Hollywood titans Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey, and politicians Al Franken and John Conyers. It’s easy to say the Bryant case was a long time ago, but the heat is still on President Donald Trump and former president Bill Clinton even though many of the assault accusations against them are much older.

In our era, there is no statute of limitations when it comes to criticism of accused icons. Except, it seems, when it comes to athletes. Tracy quips that if Lauer were a football player, he’d be suspended six shows and return to the air.

“Women are being believed now more than then,” says Nancy Hogshead-Makar, CEO of Champion Women, an advocacy group for girls and women in sports, and a civil rights lawyer. “But we still have a problem with male athletes. You’ll see people take the fall in media, or politics, but athletes have a source of power that other men don’t, which is fans. They will slut-shame and discredit a victim’s story pretty quickly.”

View photos Kobe Bryant steps on the court for a 2004 regular-season game at Staples Center after arriving from Colorado, where he had a closed hearing earlier in the day regarding his sexual assault case. (AP) More

Not all athletes get that special treatment. Tiger Woods’ consensual affairs lingered in the public consciousness for years, while Bryant’s have been largely forgotten. In the past few days, football Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk was suspended from NFL Network after a lawsuit claiming harassment. Active athletes with bright futures do better in the court of public opinion than older or retired players.

Consider Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston, who is far less beloved than Bryant, far less accomplished, and still the face of his franchise despite an unproven rape accusation at Florida State, a civil settlement, and a standing accusation of groping an Uber driver in 2016. Or Patrick Kane, the Chicago Blackhawks star, who was accused of rape in 2015 before his accuser decided not to go forward with the investigation. This was several years after Kane was accused of physically assaulting a cab driver in Buffalo. Kane’s jersey is still commonly worn in Chicago.

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