Kobe Bryant shows support for Hope Solo, USWNT (Photo)

The Los Angeles Lakers star and his family took pictures with the US Women’s soccer team, including the embattled goalie Hope Solo.

Kobe Bryant has been a soccer fan since he grew up in Italy and played the sport while his father was a basketball player for AC Milan.

Over the weekend, the Bryants posed for pictures with the US Women’s National Team following their 5-1 win over Mexico, and those photos included stars Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan and Hope Solo.

From TMZ:

"After the game, Kobe’s wife Vanessa congratulated the squad … saying, “Thanks for always being so awesome and sweet to our girls! We’re all rooting for you!!!! #TeamUSA.”"

Solo has been embroiled in domestic violence issues stemming from an alleged assault of her half-sister and 17 year old cousin. Still, the Bryants seemed alright allowing her to pose with the family.

Bryant’s support of the women’s soccer team is not unusual. He has been an avid fan of the sport since growing up in Italy, and with the women’s team clearly outpacing the men it should stand to reason that Kobe throws the majority of his national support behind the USWNT. He’s not making some sweeping social statement by supporting the team; he and his family are just being soccer fans.

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Of course, it is within their sports fan rights to no longer support the team in the wake of Hope Solo’s troubles with domestic violence, just like in American football, where fans could decide to no longer support the Dallas Cowboys for signing Greg Hardy, or the Chicago Bears for signing Ray McDonald, or even the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for drafting Jameis Winston. Kobe himself has his own baggage, he was accused of sexual assault in 2003, facing Lakers fans with tough questions about their support for the team.

Most fans of those teams have stayed onboard (or at least if they have jumped ship, it has little to do with the character of the players and much more to do with the product on the field). Are they wrong to? Are they showing tacit support for the actions of the team’s offender, or is this a case of fandom simply being fandom?

The answer is clear. At worst, Kobe and other fans are choosing to ignore the dark side of their favorite teams. What is more likely is that they want their teams to succeed, and they want their players to be good people while they do. They can condemn the actions of the player without condemning the team forever.

This could be a major statement on the supposed guilt of a perpetrator of domestic violence. Or this could just be photos with a soccer team.

[H/T: TMZ, Washington Post]

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