On one side is Kobe Bryant, among the world's most recognizable athletes. Young, successful and classy, Bryant's reputation until Friday had been squeaky-clean and family-oriented. His popularity soared the highest earlier this year when he received more votes -- nearly 1.5 million -- than any other 2003 NBA All-Star.

On the other side is a 19-year-old woman, unnamed by media outlets and unknown outside her hometown community of 3,700 in Eagle County, Colo. A college student and former high school cheerleader, she once auditioned for "American Idol" but failed to make the cut.

Like many other teenagers in her town, the woman was working in the tourist industry, as a concierge at a posh 56-room resort outside of Vail, when she met Bryant on the fateful night of June 30.

Since then, the woman has accused the Los Angeles Lakers superstar of rape. On Friday, district attorney Mark Hurlbert charged Bryant with one count of felony sexual assault, a sentence that could produce life in prison.

"It certainly is a possibility that he could go to prison on this," Hurlbert told ESPN on Saturday.

The defense's response? Consensual sex. A tearful Bryant, claiming innocence while rupturing the fabric of his family values, said at a Friday night news conference that he was "disgusted at myself for making the mistake of adultery."

The surreal drama that took place Friday in Colorado and Los Angeles will continue for the next several months, including an Aug. 6 court date in which Bryant must return to Colorado to be advised of his rights.

For now, case No. O3CR204 is far more important to Bryant than his jersey No. 8.

Preliminary hearings, pleas and motions will be issued before a trial can begin, a trial that could interfere with the upcoming Lakers season -- a season that seemed so full of promise a few days ago when veteran free agents Gary Payton and Karl Malone were signed to join Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal.

A jury likely will decide whether Bryant can resume his previous life on a basketball court. But in the court of public opinion, the damage may have already been done.

"He's showing a weakness that none of us knew about," Bob Laine, the father of Bryant's wife Vanessa, told the Los Angeles Times. "But that doesn't mean he's some sort of rapist or monster.

"I'm not thrilled it was adultery, but it sure … beats the alternative."

That Bryant's inner circle even has to discuss alternatives seemed unthinkable before June 30.

Sure, he's not the first athlete to face allegations of such a disturbing crime. In a similar circumstance in which a woman visited an athlete's hotel room, boxer Mike Tyson was convicted of rape in 1992. But until Friday, parallels between Tyson and Bryant were not only off-base but laughable. The two athletes couldn't have been on farther ends of the moral spectrum.

"If this becomes a battle of credibility, Kobe Bryant is a far cry from Mike Tyson," Denver-based lawyer Larry Pozner told The Denver Post.

"Kobe Bryant is quiet, well-mannered, highly respected. And if he tells a jury he didn't do it, they (the prosecution) are going to have an uphill battle convincing a jury this gentleman became a sex-crazed rapist."

That gentlemanly reputation certainly will help if the case goes to trial.

"If ever an athlete deserves the benefit of the doubt, it would be Kobe Bryant," Dean Bonham, chief executive of a Denver-based sports marketing firm, told the Post.

Yet, Bryant's advantage in the high-profile department may be undercut by his accuser's solid reputation in her own ski-country community.

Hurlbert wants to keep the trial in Eagle County, saying "the people in Eagle County have a right to hear it." The potential jury might also be familiar with the woman, who is the same age now as Vanessa Laine was when she married Bryant in April 2001.

"Everyone up there knows who she is, even though she has not been identified in the press," veteran Denver defense lawyer Jeralyn Merritt told the L.A. Times. "She has a lot of people rallying to her support."

Proving sexual assault is considered difficult unless there is overwhelming physical evidence. If the case turns into a he-said/she-said argument, the critical point likely will be: Why did the woman visit Bryant's room at the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera about 11 p.m. that night?

Bryant was staying at the hotel prior to having arthroscopic surgery on his right knee at a Vail clinic the next day. The defense could argue that the woman, having just met Bryant when he checked into the hotel less than an hour earlier, was arranging for a sexual encounter.

"Going to someone's room near midnight is probably not for work," Colorado defense lawyer Edward J. Nugent told the Times. "That looks like a social decision."

But one of the woman's friends, Ashley Scriver, told the Orange County Register that the woman simply was making a delivery to Bryant's room.

"She said he was very nice, playing it cool, totally playing off his image," Scriver told the newspaper. "Then he just went crazy. She said he forced himself on her. He went the whole way. She didn't have a choice."

In the prosecution's favor is Colorado's strong shield law in rape cases. That law places boundaries on the questions an accuser may face concerning her sexual history.

While only Bryant and the woman know what really took place that night inside the room, enlightening testimony might stem from noises emanating from the room.

The Denver Post reported that a guest complained about noise coming from Bryant's room and that hotel staff members arrived to break up the dispute. A Denver television station, KUSA, reported that witnesses told investigators the woman was visibly shaken as she left Bryant's room. Meanwhile, Bryant appeared calm, even talking to another employee, according to the Post.

If the outcome hinges on the ability of the prosecution and defense, Bryant is thought to have excellent representation.

Denver-based attorney Pamela Mackey is used to successfully clearing high-profile clients, including recently retired Avalanche goalie Patrick Roy in a domestic violence dispute two years ago. Bryant's other Denver-based attorney, Hal Haddon, represented John and Patricia Ramsey in the still-unsolved murder of their daughter, 6-year-old JonBenet.

Meanwhile, 34-year-old Hurlbert is much younger than either Mackey (46) or Haddon (62). Before he was appointed Eagle County district attorney in December, Hurlbert, as an assistant D.A., did win a second-degree murder conviction against a man accused of killing his wife and burying her body.

The defense will benefit from Bryant's financial resources. Bryant, whose six-year, $70.9 million contract will expire after next season, made $12.3 million last season. He also receives an additional $11 million to $15 million annually in endorsement deals, and recently signed a five-year, $40 million contract with Nike.

While those deals may dry up depending on the outcome, the money he already has made from them will serve him well as the case moves forward, according to former Eagle County district attorney Mike Goodbee.

"My budget (as DA) was $2.1 million. He makes that in about four games," Goodbee told The Denver Post. "Here's a guy who makes $30 (million) to $40 million a year. His salary is 10 times the budget of the whole DA's office."

Hurlbert, according to the Post, is receiving help from the office of Denver district attorney Bill Ritter. Ritter told the Post that other Colorado prosecutors will lend assistance, especially in handling the flood of motions the defense may file.

One last unknown variable could be race.

The Eagle County community, according to the Post, is 74 percent white and less than 1 percent black. Colorado lawyer Lisa Wayne, one of two blacks on the board of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said minorities have difficulties getting fair trials, particular in rural Colorado areas.

"There's always the hope that this kind of defendant, because of who he is, would transcend race," Wayne told The Denver Post. "But I have to tell you that when it comes to allegations of sexual assault involving a black man and a white woman, there's often a deep bias that is so ingrained with jurors that they don't even recognize it, and it can interfere with their ability to (recognize) his status."

So many factors. So many unanswered questions. Emotional scars that may or may not heal.

There are opposite sides. For now, they share an uncertain future.