EMOTIONAL MOMENTS AT STAPLES HOME OF BRYANT'S GREATEST TRIUMPHS BECOMES HIS HOUSE OF PAIN FRIDAY.

Byline: Jill Painter Staff Writer

The door opened and Kobe Bryant's attorneys walked into the Staples Center press room.

There was a split-second of silence. Then the sudden clicking of dozens of cameras.

Kobe Bryant, and his wife, Vanessa, followed.

The 24-year-old Lakers superstar surprisingly attended Friday's press conference the same day that felony sexual assault charges were filed against him in Colorado.

His attorney, Pamela Mackey, said it was his decision.

Bryant walked in the room holding his wife's hand. He pulled out her chair. The two looked into each other's eyes throughout the press conference.

They listened to his attorney, Mackey, brief the media that Bryant would plead ``not guilty.'' She asked that he be tried in front of a Colorado jury. She didn't believe charges should've been filed.

Vanessa rubbed Bryant's right hand with both of hers while Mackey was talking about pleas, jury locations and consensual sex between two adults. Vanessa whispered: ``You OK?''

Bryant nodded.

Vanessa, wearing a dark brown dress, didn't cry. She didn't speak. But without uttering a word, she was clear in her support of Bryant. Earlier in the day, she expressed as much in a statement.

``I know that my husband made a mistake - the mistake of adultery,'' Vanessa said. ``He and I will have to deal with that within our marriage and we will do so. He is not a criminal. I know that he did not commit a crime. He did not assault anyone.''

The couple held hands as Bryant proclaimed his innocence, apologized and admitted to having sex with a 19-year-old Colorado woman last month.

Bryant began with two deliberate words: ``I'm innocent.''

Flanked by his wife, Bryant, wearing a cream-colored sweater and jeans, appeared visibly shaken and scared. He cried. He spoke slowly, pausing many times to hold back tears. He clenched his lips.

``I sit here in front of you guys, furious at myself, disgusted at myself for making a mistake of adultery,'' Bryant told a room packed with reporters. ``I love my wife with all my heart. She's my backbone.''

Then Bryant turned, looked his wife in the eyes and apologized to her. The world had a front-row seat to a normally private conversation between a husband and wife.

``You're a blessing,'' a teary-eyed Bryant told her. ``You're the beats to my heart, the air I breathe '''

He paused to wipe a tear before he continued.

``You're the strongest person I know. I'm so sorry I put you through this, that I put our family through this. I'm a human being. I'm a man, just like everybody else. I mourn. I cry, just like everybody else.

``I sit here before you guys, embarrassed and ashamed for committing adultery.''

The press conference was held at Staples Center, home to many magical moments in Bryant's young career. He's had many emotional games. He cried on the court here just a couple of months ago, when the San Antonio Spurs eliminated the Lakers from the playoffs.

These tears were much different.

Outside Staples Center, countless television vans were parked in the lot. They weren't there for the Sparks WNBA game, which started about an hour after Bryant's press conference ended.

The scene outside and inside was eerily similar to that of a playoff game. Reporters were lined up on the street outside conducting live shots.

Bryant wasn't wearing customary sunglasses this time. And this wasn't about the Lakers and the quest for another championship. It was about a man who faces a serious charge of felony sexual assault.

Bryant ended his speech by saying he appreciated the support he has received. He also asked for prayers.

``I'm innocent,'' Bryant said. ``Shoulder to shoulder, we're going to fight this to the end.''

Bryant and Vanessa then left the room just as they had entered it, hand in hand.

Jill Painter, [phone]

jill.painter(at)dailynews.com

COLORADO CLASS 3 FELONY

Sexual assault is a Class 3 felony if it is attended by any one or more of the following circumstances:

--The actor causes submission of the victim through the actual application of physical force or physical violence; or

--The actor causes submission of the victim by threat of imminent death, serious bodily injury, extreme pain, or kidnapping, to be inflicted on anyone, and the victim believes that the actor has the present ability to execute these threats; or

--The actor causes submission of the victim by threatening to retaliate in the future against the victim, or any other person, and the victim reasonably believes that the actor will execute this threat; or

--The actor has substantially impaired the victim's power to appraise or control the victim's conduct by employing, without the victim's consent, any drug, intoxicant, or other means for the purpose of causing submission.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) ``I feel after reviewing the evidence, I can prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt.'' - Mark Hurlbert, Eagle County (Colo.) D.A.

(2 -- color) Just another star athlete accused of misdeeds? No, this time it's Kobe Bryant (shown with wife Vanessa, left) one of L.A.'s most beloved.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer

(3) ``The accusations in this case cannot be proven because they are false.'' - Pamela Mackey, Bryant's attorney

Box:

COLORADO CLASS 3 FELONY (see text)