Kobe Bryant Suspended. ???.

by sungo on Jan 30, 2007 12:13 PM CST

(Thanks for spurfan81 for the heads up.)

Kobe Bryant has been suspended for backhanding Ginobili in the face at the end of regulation of Sunday's Laker game.

Yeah, that's a solid hit, but a suspension? When there's no way to prove it's intentional? This sets a dangerous precedent for the Spurs and Manu, who often flails his arms like he's possessed. Manu needs to come out and say the suspension wasn't warranted. For karmic reasons. And it will make him seem like he's tough and from the streetz.

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Re: Kobe Bryant Suspended. ???.

Well Pop already said after the game that the hit wasn't intentional. But you never know with this Kobe character. I mean he did frail his arm backwards to draw a foul, and Manu could have broken his nose on the play.

I mean none of the Spurs players complained about the hit, this came down from directly from Stu Jackson.

It would have looked better if Kobe, went directly to Manu after the play and apologized to him. He might have, but the camera never caught that. It just shows him throwing his arms backwards and then looking down at Manu and walking towards his bench

by adam8065 on Jan 30, 2007 12:57 PM CST reply actions

Re: Kobe Bryant Suspended. ???.

One of the announcers said that Kobe did check to see if Manu was ok.

by sungo on Jan 30, 2007 1:55 PM CST up reply actions

Re: Kobe Bryant Suspended. ???.

Kobe did turn around and go towards Manu once he stopped looking at the rim and looked down on the floor. A camera in the huddle of Spurs trainers and players around Manu show a person in a Lakers jersey lean down and put his hand on Manu and say something to him. Since Kobe was the only Laker in that vicinity, it had to have been him.

by davidpj24 on Jan 31, 2007 12:10 AM CST up reply actions

Re: Kobe Bryant Suspended. ???.

I don't even think it was even an attempt to draw a foul - it looked more like a reflex to push Manu out/away so Kobe could get position for the deflection and get another shot attempt - and he did just that without ever even looking back at Manu.
His arm is already going through the motions of a shot, and having commited motions stuffed like that can do funny stuff to appendages - like a snapping a spring halfway through the coil - ya don't know which way it's gonna fly. That crap happens all the time under the basket with people grabbing for rebounds.
Usually when it happens tho, someone's arm level is at the other person's arm/torso level, so nobody notices. In this case tho, his arm level was at Manu's face level.
To the degree it was intentional, I think he was more jockeying for position than pleading for help from the refs.

Kinda a harsh suspension... I hate Kobe, but I don't believe for a second he was actually trying to hurt Manu. But rules about above-the-neck contact should be harsh. That's the whole point.

chaos... panic... pandemonium... my work here is done.

by rick2g on Jan 30, 2007 8:07 PM CST up reply actions

Re: Kobe Bryant Suspended. ???.

I know, but I don't think the video caught that. So when Stu Jackson looked it, Kobe just looked down towards Manu and walked to his bench.

Right or wrong, that was the decision the NBA came down with.

by adam8065 on Jan 30, 2007 2:21 PM CST reply actions

Re: Kobe Bryant Suspended. ???.

I certainly didn't expect to see any punishment come from the play after watching it live. Very strange.

by jrduncans on Jan 30, 2007 2:46 PM CST reply actions

Re: Kobe Bryant Suspended. ???.

The rule is very clear: you strike a player in the face and you're suspended. If they thought it was intentional, the suspension would be much longer than one game. So was it intentional? Obviously, only Kobe knows the answer to that, but it's well known around the league that Manu gets on lots of opponent's nerves because he's so damn relentless ... and damn good too. Kobe has had lots of shots blocked and never flailed his arm out like that before. Besides, I don't think Kobe's ever gotten over that between the legs pass that Manu embarassed him with a few years ago. And don't forget, any guy who would rape a woman has all the character of a snake. So, please, no tears for the jerk. Just because he's a good basketball player, doesn't make him a good man.

by agutierrez on Jan 30, 2007 3:10 PM CST reply actions

Re: Kobe Bryant Suspended. ???.

Thought you guys might enjoy a little bit different take on the Kobe suspension. It's all part of Stu's master plan!

http://wecomplaininvain.ning.com/

This is pretty humorous, if you ask me.

by bkane3 on Jan 30, 2007 5:58 PM CST reply actions

Re: Kobe Bryant Suspended. ???.

I wish the NBA had explained more about WHY he was suspended, as opposed to just announcing a suspension. "For striking Manu in the face." Well, people get hit in the face all the time in basketball - you can't suspend someone every time this happens. Kobe's arm movement was strange - unnatural. He was trying to draw the ref's attention at the least, though it's possible he knew he'd get a piece of Manu. But it was dangerous, and I think the league could justify a suspension on those grounds - but they have to make it clear. Otherwise, there's just no consistency. We should bear in mind also that Kobe's elbows have landed on many, many defenders. Raja Bell got caught twice in last year's playoffs alone. We've all played enough basketball to know that some accidental elbows are less accidental than others.

The Clippers! The best NBA team in LA!

by Steve Perrin on Jan 30, 2007 11:49 PM CST reply actions

Re: Kobe Bryant Suspended. ???.

Great point. I actually thought the elbows Kobe delivered to Raja were far more intentional than this one. He was acting in an effort to get the foul call. Why would you risk an intentional or flagratn fould with 2.7 seconds left?

Yes, an explanation would have been nice.

by bkane3 on Jan 31, 2007 11:37 AM CST reply actions

Re: Kobe Bryant Suspended. ???.

here is an explanation

The NBA news release announcing the suspension said Bryant was being penalized for "striking" Ginobili. Jackson elaborated on Tuesday.

"Some of the determining factors were the fact that there was contact made with Ginobili above the shoulders and the fact that this particular action by Kobe was an unnatural basketball motion. Following a shot, he drove a stiff arm in a backward motion and struck Ginobili in the head," Jackson said. "We did not view this as an inadvertent action."

by adam8065 on Jan 31, 2007 12:09 PM CST reply actions

Re: Kobe Bryant Suspended. ???.

sorry forgot to add this too.

"This blow was so swift in real time that it's understandable why, in fact, an official would have missed the contact," Jackson said. "In our view, this was not an attempt to draw a foul."