BENCHED? We hear that Nike may drop Kobe Bryant as a spokesman and has scrapped plans for a signature shoe. Is Nike trying to make a fast break from Kobe Bryant? We hear that lawyers for the sportswear giant have been exploring how the company might slip out of the five-year, $45 million deal it signed with the three-time NBA champion before he was charged with sexually assaulting a 19-year-old ex-cheerleader in Colorado. Nike has scratched plans - at least for now - for a Kobe Bryant signature shoe, a source tells us. "Nike sees him as damaged goods,"...