Run away.

That’s the lesson every aspiring student-athlete, and all us adults, for that matter, should ascertain from the suddenly unraveling life of NBA superstar Kobe Bryant.

No quick fix, no stunt in a souped-up car, no friendship and unequivocally no girl or guy is worth risking every ounce you’ve sweat, cried and prayed for in this world.

Do I think Bryant did it?

Having been born long before yesterday, I’ll refrain from anything close to a yes-or-no answer to that loaded question. It’s a darned-if-I-do/don’t commitment that I’m not armed with nearly enough information to make.

He already pleaded stone-cold guilty of at least one major gaffe. It’s not always criminal, but it frequently invites disaster.

It’s called taking a second look.

The first look is inevitable. If a keg of Budweiser or that person sitting alone across a crowded room are in our line of vision, there’s nothing we can do about it.

That lingering, follow-up glance, though, will get you every time.

In Biblical times, the second look stopped David and Samson in their tracks. More recently, former President Clinton fell victim.

Millions of men and women born between those historical extremes also fell victim to their personal demon. Perhaps it wasn’t the opposite sex. Maybe the object of their wanderlust was power, money or an altered state of consciousness.

Rest assured, however, that they had a weakness. And wouldn’t you know it, someone or something was there to exploit it.

Bryant is a troubling addition to the list. In spite of the human frailty we realists know was hidden beneath that veneer of invincibility, Bryant surely constructed the illusion that he had it all.

Breathtaking basketball talent that earned him three championship rings before many of his contemporaries graduated from college.

Good looks. Good-looking wife. Good-looking child.

Net worth of at least nine digits to the left of the decimal point and a golden reputation that almost made a working stiff such as me legitimately happy for what he’d accomplished.

So much on his plate that we almost forget he’s only 24 years old.

Let’s put that in perspective, shall we? At 30, I remain wholly capable of decisions that would cause my parents and my wife to cover their heads in shame.

Imagine the pressure on Bryant, six years younger and owning a place in the spotlight that provides him more opportunities to screw up than I could ever comprehend.

In the court of public opinion, Bryant already pleaded guilty to the second look. He has confessed to a childish decision he made June 30 in Eagle, Colo., one with adult consequences.

Bryant’s meeting with a 19-year-old employee at the exclusive spa where he was recuperating from knee surgery led to an encounter. There are now two dramatically different stories of that encounter.

Resting In the balance is the truth, not to mention Kobe Bryant’s future.

Guilty or innocent, Bryant’s reputation may be irretrievably lost.

To those of us who cheered his on-court exploits in part because he stood above the fray of out-of-wedlock children and didn’t drag a freight train of unsavory hangers-on to every press conference, he bears a scarlet letter.

On the other hand, as a parent, I worry that star-struck children will miss the moral of this story if Bryant is exonerated.

Should the charges be proven false, Bryant will return to his status as premier pitchman for Nike, McDonald’s, Spalding and Sprite, as well as being one of the most electrifying players in the game.

Like Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson, both of whom have publicly dealt with personal indiscretion, Bryant would emerge as more of a hero than ever.

That’s all very much unsettled at the moment, though.

Kobe Bryant admits to having exercised too much freedom three weeks ago.

Consequently, at least for the next few months, he no longer can take his freedom for granted.

In retrospect, I bet he’d assess that meeting with the same words I’ll use this morning.

It just wasn’t worth it.

Kalle Oakes is sports editor. He can be reached by e-mail at koakes@sunjournal.com

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