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Skip Bayless made the mistake of thinking out loud on national television, and the result was pure struggle. According to the ESPN analyst’s logic, Kobe Bryant’s rape case helped the NBA star sell more sneakers. Oh.

Mamba has been in ESPN’s crosshairs lately, so on Monday’s edition (Oct. 20) of First Take the topic landed on his ability to sell kicks.

“Remember Kobe pre-Eagle, Colorado,” said Bayless. “He failed in his first sneaker deal because he was too clean cut? I think it was Adidas that had him first?”

Mind you, Kobe’s kicks not being very aesthetically pleasing  may have had a little something to do with poor sales, but apparently that’s neither here nor there. Eagle, Colorado is referring to the infamous rape case against Bryant in 2003, in which the charges were dropped and a civil case was settled out of court.

Although he had been sporting an assortment of kicks, Bryant didn’t sign with Nike until after the charges were dropped.

As for Skip, he continued, “He couldn’t sell sneakers because he didn’t have enough edgeBut post-Eagle, Colorado, it brought a little attention to him, like it gave him a little bit of … sizzle.

Sizzle? The look on Stephen A. Smith’s pretty much sums up our thoughts on Bayless’ spiel. Also, is anyone thinking sizzle when they look at top sneaker sellers LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Michael Jordan?

Chime in below in the comments.

Photo: ESPN