Surprised that Kobe settled?

I am not at all surprised. First of all it probably saved what was left of his image by settling instead of risking it going to court. I personally think he probably would have lost, I think most people, myself included, think he was guilty in the first place.

As far as basketball goes, I don't think anyone is surprised that the Lakers are worse off with Kobe being the man than they were with Shaq (and Phil).

You can read a story about the lawsuit being settled at the link below:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2213&ncid=716&e=5&u=/ap/20050303/ap_on_sp_bk_ne/bkn_bryant_case