Henry Schafer, the executive vice president of Marketing Evaluations, the Q Scores Company, said that among the general population, Bryant has an 11 Q rating, a measure of recognition and likeability, below the 15 norm for a sports star. His negative Q is a huge 55, lapping Barry Bonds's very high 38.
Bryant's Q scores date to this preseason, but Schafer said he doubted that his 81-point show would drop his negatives significantly when the new scores are tallied soon
"He's not doing anything outside the game that would mitigate the negative reaction significantly," he said. "You don't see remorse. Those who do show it bounce back quickly."
Jeff Chown, president of Davie-Brown Talent, an agency of the Marketing Arm, an entertainment and sports consulting company, said that Bryant was still too much of a gamble for the typical risk-averse corporation.
"From a brand perspective, Kobe's no more compelling than before the game," Chown said. "When a celebrity has a transgression, three things help: time, winning and rehabilitating his image. Time is helping; he's winning, but it's individually, and he's done nothing to rehabilitate his image."
Does his teammates like him, or are they happy to play second fiddle and let him score all the points?