Denver ? Experts believe a settlement between Kobe Bryant and the woman who has accused him of rape makes the most sense for both sides because it allows them to avoid a potentially embarrassing trial that would bring out intimate details of their lives.

ABC News Radio reported Tuesday that the NBA standout and his 20-year-old accuser had reached an agreement in principle, with a settlement possible as early as this week.

Attorneys for Bryant did not return calls, and the woman’s attorneys declined to comment on the report.

Earlier, the woman’s attorneys had scheduled a seven-hour questioning session with Bryant on Friday, but it was scratched, prompting speculation a settlement was close.

Denver attorney Bill Keating said a settlement always seemed the only logical end for the high-profile lawsuit. Bryant and many observers “recognize this is a case likely to be very time-consuming, very expensive and a case that delves into intensely personal issues on both sides,” Keating said.

“It’s really the perfect case to be settled because there are lots of areas of compensation other than money that come along with getting the case settled: not having to be involved in this public issue any more,” he said.

A settlement would offer Bryant “an end to litigation, an end to courtrooms, an end to meetings with lawyers,” Denver attorney Larry Pozner said. “And what you give back is money, and what Kobe Bryant has a lot of is money.”

The woman filed her lawsuit in Denver federal court in August, three weeks before the criminal case against the Los Angeles Lakers guard collapsed when she decided she could not participate in the trial.