Speaking publicly for the first time since he was accused of sexual assault, Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant denied the allegations and said he "would never do something like that."

	Bryant

"When everything comes clean, it will all be fine, you'll see," Bryant, 24, told the Los Angeles Times in a story published Sunday.

The five-time NBA All-Star would not discuss details of the case, the newspaper said.

"I shouldn't have to say anything. You know I would never do something like that," Bryant said in the brief telephone interview.

Bryant is accused of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old hotel employee at the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera in Edwards, Colo., on June 30. Bryant, who was in Colorado for knee surgery at a Vail clinic, surrendered to authorities on July 4 and was released after posting a $25,000 bond.

Prosecutors have said they expect to decide this week whether to file charges against Bryant. Bryant's attorneys have previously said he is innocent and expects to be exonerated.

On Thursday, the Los Angeles Times reported that Bryant talked to and flirted with the alleged victim when he checked into the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera on June 30, according to hotel employees.

One employee told the newspaper that hotel security, responding to complaints of noise from other guests, went to Bryant's room early in the morning on July 1. A report of the alleged attack was made to Eagle County law enforcement officials later that afternoon, according to the Times.

The Times also reported that the alleged victim is a former cheerleader and choir singer at Eagle Valley High School who was described as "fun-loving, outgoing and emotional" by friends.

A couple that lives next door to the woman expressed shock that the alleged victim is the woman they know.

"My husband was just saying this morning that he was a disbeliever of the legal action against Kobe -- he thinks Kobe is a stand-up guy," the wife, who declined to give her name, told the Times. "But my thinking all along has been, 'Why would this woman give a false accusation and open herself up to all this scrutiny unless something happened?' "

Her husband told the newspaper that his position changed upon learning the identity of the alleged victim.

"It's more complicated now," the man said. "My thinking was entirely based on Kobe's clean image. But now, actually knowing this girl and her family a lot more than I know Kobe, I just do not think she would do anything malicious. We're dealing with a young girl here, somebody brought up in the mountains, a trusting person.

"That entire family is well-respected. Usually, you get a good sense of a child by the pride her parents show, and they did with her."

Under Colorado law, sexual assault encompasses a wide range of behavior, whether it be touching a clothed body part or engaging in a sexual act, and what the accusations are is not yet clear.

Also on Thursday, the Times reported that Bryant and the 19-year-old woman each went to a hospital after the alleged attack, but investigators said little about the reasons.

Eagle County Sheriff Joe Hoy told the Vail Daily on Wednesday that the woman underwent tests, but he declined to identify the tests or the facility. He said the tests were common practice in sexual assault cases. Sheriff's spokeswoman Kim Andree would not say whether deputies or someone else took the woman to a hospital, or whether she drove herself.

Sheriff's deputies took Bryant to Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs, about 40 miles west of the resort, early on July 2. Bryant voluntarily submitted DNA samples to investigators, the Rocky Mountain News reported Thursday. Sheriff's detective Doug Winters said Wednesday that Bryant was allowed to leave on his own because he had not been charged. Deputies stayed with the Lakers guard while he was at the hospital, to protect the integrity of the evidence, according to the newspaper.

Hurlbert said Tuesday he hoped to have a decision whether to file charges against Bryant by the end of this week.

"I felt confident from the first time I talked to my investigators," Hoy said Tuesday. "I felt we did the right thing."

Terry O'Brien, a 38-year-old Vail Taxi dispatcher and driver, told the Orange County Register Tuesday that he picked up the star from the emergency room at Valley View Hospital. According to the newspaper, Bryant was with three members of his entourage and flanked by Eagle County sheriff's officers.

Bryant pulled a towel over his head before diving into the back seat of the cab, O'Brien told the newspaper.

O'Brien was not at work early Wednesday and a telephone listing in his name was disconnected.

Andree refused to confirm the story, but did say the department uses hospitals in Glenwood Springs and Vail for tests in sexual assault investigations.

O'Brien said he transported Bryant and three men to the Hotel Colorado in Glenwood Springs, then drove one of the men back to the Lodge and Spa at Cordillera, where the man "cleared out" Bryant's belongings. O'Brien said he was paid $372 by Bryant bodyguard Michael Ortiz for the 2½-hour job. The Register did not specify how O'Brien knew Ortiz's identity.

"The whole thing was pretty weird and pretty fishy," O'Brien told the Register. "Bryant was laying in the back seat with a towel over his head, trying not to be seen, while three men were taking care of all the details."

Authorities have said they are treating Bryant like any other suspect, though Eagle County sheriff's investigators didn't reveal his arrest until two days after he was released on bail.

Earlier this week, Hoy said investigators learned of the assault allegation on July 1 and spent nearly 30 hours on the case before contacting Bryant. Andree has said investigators told Bryant about the arrest warrant last Thursday, and he returned to Colorado the next day to turn himself in and post bail.

The arrest wasn't announced until Sunday.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.