An Interview With 'The Kobe Video Guys'

Earlier we brought you news of the "Kobe Video," a yet-to-be-seen tape of Kobe using profanity and allegedly ripping members of the Lakers organization. Today I got a chance to speak with Ron, who is representing the Kobe Video Guys (they like to be called the KVG) in an effort to get it sold to the highest bidder. Here's a recap of some of the things we discussed.

Brett Edwards: When was this video taken, when did you guys talk to Kobe?

Ron: Early June, [a couple of days] before Kobe went on the radio asking to be traded.

Brett: Do your friends know Kobe? Had they talked to him before? I mean why did Kobe feel so comfortable talking to them?

Ron: I don't know if they had talked to him before, I'll have to verify that. I don't think so, because my friend was so excited to be speaking to Kobe that he said his heart was racing, and it was like he couldn't believe it. Kobe frequents the same places in Newport Beach, there's really only one grocery store right in that area, and I know people that see him there all the time. He's usually very cordial in speaking with fans that approach him, but this time he was even more open.

More about the content of the video and when we might see it, after the jump.

Brett: Did Kobe know you were video taping him?

Ron: I don't think he noticed he was being recorded. My friend had a digital camera and was taking pictures, then just switched to video mode, so no, I don't think he knew he was being filmed.

Brett: An article on your website said that you were approached with an offer from someone (a "private party") who would buy the tape from you on the condition that the tape would be destroyed. If the offer was decent, why not accept it?

Ron: We feel the public has a right to see this, it's rare to see an athlete speak this candidly about what he really thinks. The person that made the offer was just a huge Laker fan and was basically trying to give us hush money. Even if the highest bidder wanted to destroy the tape, we would accept less money from someone who would make the video public. We feel it's important to get it out there.

Brett: How long is the video, and what else can we expect to see Kobe saying?

Ron: It's about 25 seconds, and Kobe says "Ship his ass out. We're talking Jason Kidd. They didn't want to do that. That's why we're in this [effed up] position." He's talking about the Lakers' reluctance to include Andrew Bynum in the potential Kidd deal. We also have an audio-only clip taken a few days later where Kobe is asked if he's staying, and he responds "Get a Bulls uniform fellas."

Brett: Where do you stand right now in the process of getting this sold and making it public?

Ron: Right now we're leaning towards selling it through the website for $1.99. These would be pre-orders, and we would only release the videos once we reach a certain number of sales. That way we could make sure it's not all over YouTube right away. We're still open to other offers, but right now that's how we're thinking of doing it.

I'm scheduled to meet with Ron in the next couple of days to see the actual video, and once that happens you can expect an update as to the quality and authenticity of the clip. I want to give a big thank you to Ron for taking the time to talk about this with me, and I'm sure we're all very interested in how this is going to play out.