Late justice - Kobe suspended
- Thread starter piksi
- Start date
Okay, here it is:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2748084
Kobe suspended tonight vs. Knicks
By Chris Sheridan
ESPN.com
Updated: Jan. 30, 2007, 3:48 PM ET
Kobe Bryant was so stunned and angered by his one-game suspension, he took the extraordinary step Tuesday of asking NBA commissioner David Stern to convene an immediate appeal hearing.
As of 3 p.m. ET, the NBA Players Association was still awaiting a response from the league office.
Bryant was staying at the Lakers' team hotel just a few blocks from NBA headquarters in Manhattan, and he was on call to dash down Fifth Avenue to Stern's office if the request was granted. But barring the unlikeliest turn of events, Bryant was officially banned from Madison Square Garden for the Los Angeles Lakers' only visit of the season to play the Knicks.
"I've been waiting to play here, it's always been a fun place for me to play here, and I'm surprised. Shocked, by it, actually," Bryant said. "I unintentionally caught Manu Ginobili. What do you say, it's a basketball game. You unintentionally catch people with elbows every once in a while."
The suspension, for elbowing the Ginobili while Bryant was attempting a jump shot late in the Lakers' game against the Spurs on Sunday, caught Bryant completely off-guard.
"I haven't seen a precedence for this. There's unintentional elbows that take place in a game all the time," Bryant told reporters at Madison Square Garden following the Lakers' shootaround. "I'm blown away by it. It makes no sense."
The NBA news release announcing the suspension said Bryant was being penalized for "striking" Ginobili, but there was no further explanation given in regards to whether league vice president Stu Jackson felt the contact was intentional.
Players association officials said it was highly unusual, if not unprecedented, for a player to be suspended for inadvertent contact.
"We're asking for an immediate hearing, and given Kobe's availability in New York, he's offered to meet with the commissioner or appropriate league officials to review the tape and explain what happened," union spokesman Dan Wasserman said. "Kobe can be at the league office on literally 10 to 15 minutes notice."
Chris Sheridan covers the NBA for ESPN Insider. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2748084
Kobe suspended tonight vs. Knicks
By Chris Sheridan
ESPN.com
Updated: Jan. 30, 2007, 3:48 PM ET
Kobe Bryant was so stunned and angered by his one-game suspension, he took the extraordinary step Tuesday of asking NBA commissioner David Stern to convene an immediate appeal hearing.
As of 3 p.m. ET, the NBA Players Association was still awaiting a response from the league office.
Bryant was staying at the Lakers' team hotel just a few blocks from NBA headquarters in Manhattan, and he was on call to dash down Fifth Avenue to Stern's office if the request was granted. But barring the unlikeliest turn of events, Bryant was officially banned from Madison Square Garden for the Los Angeles Lakers' only visit of the season to play the Knicks.
"I've been waiting to play here, it's always been a fun place for me to play here, and I'm surprised. Shocked, by it, actually," Bryant said. "I unintentionally caught Manu Ginobili. What do you say, it's a basketball game. You unintentionally catch people with elbows every once in a while."
The suspension, for elbowing the Ginobili while Bryant was attempting a jump shot late in the Lakers' game against the Spurs on Sunday, caught Bryant completely off-guard.
"I haven't seen a precedence for this. There's unintentional elbows that take place in a game all the time," Bryant told reporters at Madison Square Garden following the Lakers' shootaround. "I'm blown away by it. It makes no sense."
The NBA news release announcing the suspension said Bryant was being penalized for "striking" Ginobili, but there was no further explanation given in regards to whether league vice president Stu Jackson felt the contact was intentional.
Players association officials said it was highly unusual, if not unprecedented, for a player to be suspended for inadvertent contact.
"We're asking for an immediate hearing, and given Kobe's availability in New York, he's offered to meet with the commissioner or appropriate league officials to review the tape and explain what happened," union spokesman Dan Wasserman said. "Kobe can be at the league office on literally 10 to 15 minutes notice."
Chris Sheridan covers the NBA for ESPN Insider. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Jechtsphere
Starter
I saw the play, you don't suspend him, it was clearly unintentionally.
vladetomiller
Bench
If Bavetta was officiating it probably would have been a foul on Ginobili
Did you watch the latest Kings Vs lakers game, if not go and read the grades thread by brick to understand about bavetta
vladetomiller
Bench
I think its a message to Kobe and the rest of the nba players to avoid using their elbows to clear space. I think Kobe has used his elbow unintentionally more than once and intentionally a few times against raja bell.
Have you guys noticed the success the knicks have enjoyed over the lakers in the past few years, it is really suprising that the lakers seem to have some injury or other when they face the knicks.
Have you guys noticed the success the knicks have enjoyed over the lakers in the past few years, it is really suprising that the lakers seem to have some injury or other when they face the knicks.
HndsmCelt
Hall of Famer
Kobe has goten away with that crap for years of throwing elbows and flailing to create space. For teh average player this should result in an offinsve foul weater or not the contact was intended or not. The BIG problem is that no one has called him for this crap and in some cases the whiner has actually goten the foul call. I can;t speak for everyone fortunate enough not to be a Laker fan but my feeking is MOST of us are dam glad to see him finely called for it and in truye cry baby form Kome palns to whine, snivvile and bully his way out of it.
I saw the play and to be honest I I don;t see how ANYONE can claim to know Kobe's intentions and frankly it does not matter he threw a extreemly wide elbow (flailing his arm is more accurate) in an aparent attempt to keep the defender (Ginobli) at a distance. Well sorry Kobe inniated contact with a defender that makes it a foul, the force makes some intent clear... Kobe knew IF anyone tried to get clse they would feel it for a few days.
I saw the play and to be honest I I don;t see how ANYONE can claim to know Kobe's intentions and frankly it does not matter he threw a extreemly wide elbow (flailing his arm is more accurate) in an aparent attempt to keep the defender (Ginobli) at a distance. Well sorry Kobe inniated contact with a defender that makes it a foul, the force makes some intent clear... Kobe knew IF anyone tried to get clse they would feel it for a few days.
6th
Homer Fan Since 1985
I cannot comment on this particular play because I have not seen it. However, if it means that Kobe will finally have to stop throwing elbows to clear space.....so be it. Of that, I am not sorry.
Edit:
Well, I just saw it on NBA TV. No doubt it was a foul. It was intentional, even if it was not an intent to hit him in the face.
Intentional or not....he deserved something.
Edit:
Well, I just saw it on NBA TV. No doubt it was a foul. It was intentional, even if it was not an intent to hit him in the face.
Intentional or not....he deserved something.
Vlade4GM
All-Star
omg, you are so freaking bias. so transparent it's laughable. kobe does this move all the time to draw a shooting foul, that was his intention. it's his natural reaction to deflections, it always has been, manu just happened to be in a bad place. anyone who thinks he thought up a scheme to hit him in the face after getting blocked in under a second while trying to win a game is not too bright. also explain if it was so obvious why didn't the refs call a foul?
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HndsmCelt
Hall of Famer
The refs don't call it beceause it's Kobe. Not the first guy to flail and get away with it and beceause he HAS it is now his "natural style" Just like Karl Malone's swinging elbows on rebounds and kick when he elevated... got away with so kep it up... The moves should have been offensive fouls and on very rare occasions were called as such.
Vlade4GM
All-Star
you talk as if he's the only one who does it. a lot of players flail their arms after shot deflections or some sort of contact on the shot and don't get an offensive foul, in fact i rarely see it called as an offensive foul. it's a strategy that's been around for a long time. whether a foul should be called that's a different argument and one that shouldn't be focused on one player. an offensive foul wasn't called and the league called it intentional contact that was a "non basketball move". his intention was to draw a foul not to hit manu in the face. there is no precedent for this and it's a bogus move in a series of bogus moves by stern and his lackey. the nba is being corrupted by these nazis. cuban is the only one in the nba with the guts to come out and say it.
News flash - it's also a foul every time he does it.
Yeah, but how many hit their opponent in the face like Kobe has a habit of doing?
Look, I know your hero just got suspended for a game. Deal with it.
Vlade4GM
All-Star
whether it is or isn't that is a different discussion. even if it is a foul (which wasn't called) that means he deserves a suspension?
Vlade4GM
All-Star
i don't know, how many?
ok, since i don't have a blatant bias/hatrid for kobe means he's my hero? the reason i'm livid is because i hate this inconsistent overbearing rule of david stern and his lackey. he's a crazy control freak trying to ruin the nba.
doone
Bench
Kobe's contant elbow flailing, intentional or not, is ILLEGAL. Just because you say it's his natural style does not make it right or warranted in any situation. The players, and Kobe is no exception, are employees of the league, they need to change to fit the rules, not the other way around.
Vlade4GM
All-Star
if it's so illegal why aren't there more offensive foul calls on the play? when the league is calling so many freaking fouls, don't you think it's a little hypocritical to start blaming the players for trying to draw fouls to get an advantage? the nba can try forever to make basketball a non-contact sport but they'll fail every time. the morality of kobe's ARM (not elbow) flailing is irrelevant and i never commented on it either way. i said his intent is always to draw a foul with that move, however the league is saying (and basing their grounds for suspension on) that his intention wasn't to draw a foul but to strike ginobili. there is no precedent for this and there has been no recent rule changes to warrant a precedent out of the blue. this was typical picking out on an individual for "other" reasons. you want to talk about what the players need to do, i say what the league needs to do is stay consistent. if it's a foul then they should start calling it, not non-calling it then slapping that player with a suspension two days later on the night of the game and not giving him the option of an appeal.
acisking
Bench
upon looking at the play again in slow motion, it DOES appear to be INTENTIONAL in the sense that it was a deliberate move after the shot was blocked. However, I feel that it was certainly more indicative of Kobe trying to draw a foul (by flailing) than trying to intentionally hit Manu. Thus I still say that it didn't warrant a suspension.
acisking
Bench
by the way....if anybody wants to see the video themselves....here is the LINK to the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a7TGrVIu3o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a7TGrVIu3o
doone
Bench
If he was trying to draw a foul, wouldn't that mean he'd actually have to come into contact with Ginobli? By trying to use his arm to draw a foul, he would have try to initiate contact with Ginobli, which is what I'm assuming the league perceived as a strike. Still, I'll concede that a suspension wasn't necessarily warranted, however Kobe's gotten away with that stuff for far too long and nevertheless I'm glad that he got the suspension if it'll at least cause him to think twice before he tries to pull something like that.
Vlade4GM
All-Star
i wouldn't say he was trying to "draw contact", but rather immitate the motions of being fouled or in other words creating the appearance of contact on the shot.
a lot of players "get away" with that stuff, hell reggie miller made a career out of it. if the league wants to stop that then they should start calling fouls on it, a foul was not called on bryant. so how does all this lead to a suspension? that's why the nba had to play it off as if their opinion was that it was intentional and that he wasn't trying to draw a foul because they know there are no rules that would support a suspension on unintentional contact. it's entirely unprecedented, completely made up for the purpose of taking kobe out.
oh please. kobe is once again the poor victim, right?
how did the refs not see it? maybe because they had to make a split second decision without the luxury of instant replay, whereas the league officials who made the decision to suspend him watched the play over and over again.
if you're going to hark on the kobe haters for their bias, you should try to put the "kobe is god and can't do no wrong" reasoning behind as well. It's only fair.
