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Remember Kobe Bryant, the alleged rapist? Did you follow the very public charges, counter-charges, the trial in Colorado? That’s over.

Remember Kobe Bryant, the whiner? Fighting with Shaq. Fighting with Coach Phil Jackson. Bygones.

You don’t hear about that Kobe these days. He seems to have put those issues behind him. His new signature show from Nike, the Zoom Kobe III is selling well. In fact, he sold it out, on his website, within hours.

And that, right there, is part of the key to Kobe’s rebirth. His new website, in which he appears in a series of videos designed to give you the appearance of a likable Kobe appearing in costumes, being involved in the director’s chair and more. His new website, where he controls the message, where he controls the product distribution.

It’s the first time an athlete’s personal website has been used as a retailer of Nike products.

This is big. It’s bigger than Kobe’s image. It’s a sign of how easy it is to bypass traditional everything in your marketing. It feels like he’s giving you a sneak peek behind the curtain, even though it’s oh so carefully managed.

Is it working for Kobe? It’s hard not to like him when you watch him dunking in all those costumes.

But beyond that, the ramifications for all of us in terms of marketing best practices are significant…

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