Star Parker in USA Today:

Basketball’s Charles Barkley once said he wasn’t a role model. This is like the president of the United States saying he doesn’t want press coverage. Star black athletes have no choice about being role models. The only choice they have is what type of models they choose to be.
On Wednesday, Kobe Bryant appeared in a Colorado court to face the rape charges against him. His innocence, or lack thereof, obviously has important personal consequences for the basketball superstar. But he already is a guilty man when it comes to the damage he has caused in the communities he influences the most. Our nation’s black youth idolize Bryant, but the example he sets undermines the very values — family, marital fidelity, sexual responsibility — crucial for their futures.