WASHINGTON, Jan. 22 (UPI) -- Slowly but surely, star Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant has seen his position as an endorser continue to decline.
Earlier this week, the McDonald's Corporation dropped him.
Bryant, a five-time NBA All-Star, is awaiting trial on a rape charge. His three-year deal with the family-oriented and world's largest fast-food chain, based in Oak Brook, Ill., has expired and was not renewed.
"McDonald's contract with Kobe Bryant expired on Dec. 31, 2003," said McDonald's spokesman William Whitman. "It would be inappropriate to comment or speculate at this time about any future sponsorship relationship."
It is the second major endorsement Bryant has lost since the rape accusation. Ferrero, the Italian food group, parted company with him last summer. It produces Nutella, the hazelnut chocolate spread.
Bryant, 25, who has three world championship rings, is accused of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old hotel employee in his room at a luxurious resort in Eagle, Colo., last June. He has admitted he had sex with the woman, but has claimed it was consensual.
He still has a few lucrative deals, but for how long is both unclear and uncertain.
According to AdAge.com, Bryant, who was an endorser's dream before this incident because of his squeaky-clean image, struck a five-year deal estimated at $45 million with Nike, which reportedly has pushed back plans to launch a shoe made for him, originally scheduled to debut Feb. 8 during the NBA All-Star Game. He also remains under contract with equipment maker Spalding, Upper Deck trading, and the Coca Cola Co.
The Coca-Cola deal runs through 2005 for its Sprite brand, although advertising featuring Bryant stopped airing in July. In August, the beverage giant signed rookie phenom LeBron James to a six-year deal for its Sprite and POWERade brands.
No spots involving McDonald's have been produced since the charge was levied last summer and his legal problems are not mentioned either on the team's or the league's official Web site.
"The last thing McDonald's needs is to have to wrestle with all the questions out there while maintaining their relationship with Kobe," Scott Becher, president of the Sports & Sponsorships agency, told ESPN. "If they had any interest in keeping the relationship alive, they wouldn't let him go like that."
It has not helped that Bryant, in his eighth year out of Pennsylvania's Lower Merion High School, now is on the injured list because of a shoulder sprain, the latest negative in a less than stellar season in which he has been criticized for taking too many shots and been accused in some quarters of not being a team player.
At the time of his injury, he was averaging 22.0 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game and even flew from Denver to a home game in Los Angeles after one of his recent court dates.
Not bad for a player who has performed under a huge cloud for the past few months.
Also, he played in a Lakers' game at Denver and scored 27 points even though he was booed every time he touched the ball.
"I've been booed before," he said at the time. "I don't listen to that. I just go out there and play basketball."
