We made passing reference to the whole Kobe-cheerleader-affair rumor into the Roundup Tuesday and thought nothing of it. Two years ago it’s a story we would have been all over from the outset, but in these post-Buzz times, where more than a handful of rascals lay in the bushes and patiently wait for you to get something wrong or screw up so they can leap and shout YOU WERE WRONG! NO CREDIBILITY! we’ve gotten a little cautious. Perhaps too cautious, in this case.

There’s a rather detailed recap at Deadspin of the whole chain of events that began nine days ago at The Dirty. The jist: Kobe Bryant may or may not have cheated on his wife again, this time, allegedly with Lakers cheerleader Vanessa Curry, who is mysteriously no longer on the team. Supposedly, photos of the two are being peddled to tabloids.

It is undeniable – Kobe’s wife is sexy as hell. Also undeniable – since he married her, his personal life has enduring nothing but turmoil. And just as his professional career is enjoying an uptick – the Lakers on the cusp of their first post-Shaq trip to the finals … his personal life threatens to trip him up again.

2001: Kobe marries 18-year-old Vanessa and only 12 people are present. His parents, who quit speaking to him once he and Vanessa grew close, do not attend, nor do his sisters or agent.
2003: Six months after his first child is born, and he has reconciled with his parents, Kobe is accused of sexual assault in Colorado. Kobe admits to cheating and gives his wife an 8-carat, $4.3 million ring. Charges were eventually dropped.
2004: Just as Kobe has put the sexual assault charges behind him, and the Lakers are entering the post-Shaq era … Vanessa accuses Kobe’s former teammate, Karl Malone, of hitting on her. (Classic Mailman: “I’m hunting young Mexican girls.”)
2008: Kobe’s wife curses out a freelancer who had blogged about a brief chat the two had recently at a game. Ordinarily this wouldn’t be a story; but when it happens the same week that rumors are surfacing about Kobe cheating on his wife, well … it seems somewhat suspect.