ESPN's Skip Bayless is known for his unfiltered, and rather controversial opinions, but he may have taken things too far.
Earlier this week, Dallas Cowboys running back Joseph Randle landed an endorsement deal with an underwear company a few days after he was arrested for shoplifting underwear. During their conversation on the subject, Skip turned his focus to Kobe, and brought up the sexual assault charges from 2003 (which were later dropped). According to Bayless, Kobe was unable to sell sneakers while he was with adidas due to his clean-cut image, and the trial gave him the attention and "sizzle" he needed to sell more shoes.
Kobe's currently under contract with Nike, and the Kobe 9 was one of the most popular sneakers of 2013-14. Recently, Nike's dropped multiple athletes with legal or behavioral issues including Ray Rice, Oscar Pistorius, Jon Jones, Lance Armstrong, and Adrian Peterson. Sure, having a "bad-boy" image on the field can increase your marketability, but saying the legal issues helped Kobe sell sneakers is a smack in the face to everybody involved. Just check out Stephen A. Smith's face following the comments, think we can smell a suspension in the air.
[NYP]
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