feck off pal. I didnt "sit back". I wanted to discuss the issue but I was banned because people like yourself would rather a whole thread of "rip, he was good at basketball" and "wow cant believe it, he was one of the best basketball players".
You can not actually deny these 2 things though.
People have demonised Ryan Giggs because he had a
consensual extra-marital relationship with his brother's wife. It's not very nice, but what 2 adults chose to do together is their business, it doesn't make him any less of a footballer.
Now, Bryant (I know approximately nothing about him btw) may have been one of the best basketball players in the World, but it also appears he raped a teenager (again not something I know anything about). Raping a teenager makes him a bad person, not a bad basketball player. Although, you could, rightly, argue, that, had he been convicted of rape, he would never have been the great player he turned out to be.
I don't think it's fair to criticise someone for lamenting the death, before his time, of a great athlete. By the same token, you should not 'brush under the carpet' that he (allegedly?) committed an extremely serious crime which the victim will carry with them all their lives.
You could say, if you were that way inclined, that there is some sort of karma in his untimely death considering what he did 15 years ago. I am not sure his family, friends and adoring fans would see it that way though.