The sexual assault case that nearly ruined Kobe Bryant’s career is front and center in a new CNN documentary that puts the NBA great’s life under a microscope.
The film, set to be released Saturday, includes a newly discovered police interview with a hotel employee who accused the basketball legend of strangling her during an alleged sexual assault.
The woman, who was 19 at the time of the alleged 2003 attack, appears in the film Kobe: The Making of a Legend.
She went to police with her claims and told the film she felt “scared” when Bryant squeezed her neck every time she said “no.”
Bryant, who played his entire career with the Los Angeles Lakers, came forward after the allegations and admitted that he cheated on his wife Vanessa, but strongly denied sexually assaulting the young woman.
It allegedly took place at The Lodge and Spa at the Cordillera, a hotel in Edward, Colorado, where Bryant checked in to undergo minor surgery.
A new CNN documentary about the life of Kobe Bryant examines police interviews uncovered in 2003 with his alleged victim, who claimed he sexually assaulted her when she was 19 at a Colorado hotel.

Bryant played with the Los Angeles Lakers throughout his career. He vehemently denied allegations that he had assaulted her, but admitted at a press conference that he had cheated on his wife Vanessa, who was sitting next to him.

Mark Hulbert was one of the Eagle County prosecutors who brought the case to court. He said that the woman had been “determined” at the beginning of the process but that the sentences and attacks on her character “worn her down.”
Mark Hulbert, one of the Eagle County prosecutors who brought the case, said in the film that the alleged victim was a front desk employee who greeted Bryant before he took her aside and asked her to give him a tour. .
The couple went to her room and Bryant began kissing her, which initially seemed fine to the victim. But when she tried to go further, he allegedly grabbed her, put his hand on her neck and sexually assaulted her.
The case was moving forward in court, but reached an impasse and was dropped a year later after the alleged victim stated that she did not want to cooperate.
But this decision was frustrating for the prosecution, who said in the film that justice was not served and that Bryant ‘knows what he did.’
According to Colorado District Court Chief Judge Ingrid Bakke, the victim had been “beaten for so long” that he had “reached his breaking point.”
Bakke joined the prosecution team in the Bryant case in 2003. He had considerable experience working on sexual assault cases.

Bryant goes through a security check as he arrives at the Eagle County Justice Center on April 28, 2004, shortly before the case was dropped.

The accusation came halfway through his career. He had a wife, a five-month-old daughter, and could have been jailed for at least four years if he had been found guilty.
According to Bakke, one of the “strongest pieces of evidence” was that the victim told a colleague immediately after the incident and told him that she didn’t want to talk because “no one is going to believe me.”
Despite her doubts, the woman went to the police the next day and gave a statement.
The documentary plays full clips of the interview with Eagle County Sheriff Doug Winters, who is shown asking the victim where exactly Bryant was grabbing her butt and chest.
The victim said, “When he took off his pants, that’s when I started to back away and try to get his hands off of me and that’s when he started choking me.”
“I wasn’t suffocating enough that I couldn’t breathe, I was just suffocating to the point where I got scared.”
Detective Winters asked the woman if she said anything during the incident. She replied: “I was afraid and said no several times.”
The victim confirmed that Bryant heard her and said she knew because “every time I said no, he hugged me tighter.”

Bryant and his daughter Gianna died in a terrible helicopter crash in 2020

An Eagle County sheriff speaking to young Kobe Bryant fans waiting to see him outside the courthouse on the second day of pretrial hearings in 2003.
‘And then he would lean his face very close to me and ask me questions (like) you’re not going to tell anyone, right?’ the woman added.
When police first called Bryant, he denied everything and said that his wife not finding out was “the only thing that matters to me.”
But he later admitted his relationship with the woman and said he had his hand around her neck.
Bryant told police, “I had my right hand like this and my other hand like this.”
When asked how tightly he hugged her, Bryant said, “I don’t know.” My hands are strong.’
In the documentary, Hulbert described the case as strong and said the victim had “the details from the beginning,” unlike most sexual assault victims who were too traumatized to have a clear memory.

Bryant told police during his interview that “the only thing I cared about” was that his wife Vanessa didn’t find out about the incident. He admitted that he slept with the alleged victim and did put his hand on her neck, but denied that it was assault.
After the charges were filed, Bryant appeared at a press conference holding hands with Vanessa and said he was “innocent,” but admitted to committing adultery and said he was “furious at myself.”

New CNN Documentary Kobe: The Making of a Legend to Premiere Saturday
“I love my wife with all my heart,” Bryant said, turning to Vanessa and saying, “She’s my backbone, you’re a blessing.”
Bakke says that when he watched the press conference, his opinion was that Bryant was “very scared and I say this because I have to say this.”
Bryant’s life in the documentary, according to the outlet, will shed light on the “invisible forces” that shaped Bryant’s life until his untimely death in a helicopter crash in Los Angeles in 2020 at the age of 41.
His daughter Gianna, 13, died next to him. He was survived by Vanessa, 42, and three other daughters, Natalia, 22, Bianka, eight, and Capri, five.
The sexual assault allegation came mid-career, he had a wife, a five-month-old daughter and could have been jailed for at least four years if convicted.

Public opinion turned against the alleged victim and it showed when Bryant received the Male Athlete of the Year award just 14 days after being charged.

Supporters of Lakers star Kobe Bryant stopped by the Eagle County Justice Center in Eagle, Colorado, in August 2003.
But the mood turned against the prosecution almost immediately and the public showed its support for Bryant, who received the Male Athlete of the Year award just 14 days after being charged.
Bryant bought his wife an eight-carat, $4 million diamond ring, which earned him some ridicule.
Bakke described how as the case progressed, Bryant’s attorneys threw “everything” they could at the victim to “bring her down.”
That included Bryant’s attorney repeatedly naming the victim during a hearing, despite an agreement not to do so.
Bryant’s attorney even suggested that the victim might have suffered injuries from having sex with three men over three days, although no one had ever suggested that.
In a devastating blow, the judge in the case ruled that the woman’s sexual history could be mentioned during the trial.

Bryant with his attorney Pamela Mackey on July 19, 2004. His attorneys repeatedly named the victim during a hearing despite an agreement not to do so, and even suggested that her injuries could have been from having sexual relations with three men over three days.
Hulbert said the woman had been “determined” at the beginning of the process, but that the sentences and attacks simply “exhausted” her.
Then, in September 2004, while the jury was being selected, Hulbert received a call from the victim who told him, “I don’t want to do this anymore.”
He said: “I had been so beaten up for so long that I had reached my breaking point and I had had enough.”
According to Hulbert, after the case was dropped, there was a “significant” drop in the number of women reporting sexual assaults in Eagle County.
The woman sued Bryant in a civil case, and as part of the settlement, he apologized.
Bryant said, “After months of reviewing discovery, listening to his attorney, and even his in-person testimony, I now understand how he feels about not having consented to this encounter.”


The documentary replays full portions of the interview with Eagle County Sheriff Doug Winters (left). Colorado Judge Ingrid Bakke said the alleged victim had been “beaten for so long” that she had “reached her breaking point.”
In the documentary, Bakke dismissed the apology as “well-crafted.”
Bakke said in the film: ‘Do I think justice prevailed? Absolutely not… he knows what he did.’
Among other details from the film are information about Bryant’s ‘Black Mamba’ alter ego, which was inspired by a scene with a killer snake in the movie ‘Kill Bill.’
Friends reveal that Bryant used the hate he felt after the sexual assault case to fuel his game, instead of letting it eat away at him.
Journalist Scoop Jackson, a close friend of Bryant, said that “a switch flipped and the Black Mamba was born.”
“It helped him get through the darkest time of his life,” he said.
Lakers trainer Gary Vitti said: “No one had as much anger as him, no one, adding that Bryant was ‘like a dragon, the angrier he gets, the more he’s going to shut you down.'”
DailyMail.com has contacted Bryant’s lawyers and representatives for comment.