Jackson: NBA on 'witch hunt' to penalize Kobe

[Rollie_Fingaz]

Article found ------>here.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Is Kobe Bryant's play on the court being overly scrutinized by the NBA? Phil Jackson apparently thinks so.

After Bryant was retroactively assessed a flagrant 1 foul for an elbow against the 76ers' Kyle Korver, Jackson came to the defense of his superstar guard.

"It shouldn't have even been a flagrant 1," Jackson told reporters. "That's crazy. That's a vendetta. They have a witch hunt going on. That's nuts. [Korver's] riding somebody. Everybody does that in this league.

"It's just becoming a witch hunt now."

It's the second time that Bryant has been penalized for a play that wasn't called a foul on the court and Jackson isn't pleased.

"It is an after-the-fact type of thing," Jackson told reporters, "and that is bothersome. They have the advantage of looking at videotape.

"We wish they would correct some of the mistakes they make in a ballgame the same way. There's a couple of games that probably could be swung, won or lost, by some of the calls they [could] correct after the fact. But you can't do that in the game."

According to Los Angeles-area media reports, the NBA is aware of Jackson's comments and they are under review.

Bryant has received two one-game suspensions this season for throwing elbows in games, once against the Timberwolves' Marko Jaric, for which he was whistled for an offensive foul, and the other against the Spurs' Manu Ginobili, where he didn't receive a foul on the play.

Following the Jaric incident, which occurred just over a month after Bryant's tangle with Ginobili, NBA vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson told ESPN.com: "We considered suspending [Bryant] for multiple games. ... If this happens again, most likely, there will be multiple games.

"Since I've been here, I've not seen this type of conduct exhibited by a player -- driving his arm backwards and making contact above the shoulder -- I have not seen that."

 

[SpiritualPorn]

Updated: 7:54 p.m. ET March 14, 2007
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. - Kobe Bryant says he can handle just about any kind of criticism. Calling him a dirty player crosses the line.

Bryant reacted angrily to such a concept Wednesday, and expressed gratitude for the support given him by Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson.

“It’s insulting,” Bryant said before the slumping Lakers flew to Denver for Thursday night’s game against the Nuggets. “I don’t need to be a dirty player. That’s just ridiculous. I’m not a dirty player — never have been, never will be.”


The 28-year-old Bryant, one of the NBA’s best players for years, said he believes he’s played “the right way” throughout his career, which began with the Lakers in 1996 when he went straight from high school to the professional ranks.

Regarding criticism, Bryant said it’s fine for people to say, for example, that he shoots too much.

“I don’t want the image of being a dirty player,” he added.

Bryant spoke to the media for the first time since Jackson accused the NBA of conducting what he called a “witch hunt” against his star player a day earlier.

“He’s being supportive, coming to my defense,” Bryant said. “It feels good to have somebody in your corner.”

Jackson isn’t the only one. Teammates Lamar Odom and Luke Walton, who will both return to action Thursday night after being sidelined with injuries, were emphatic in defending Bryant.

“He plays extremely hard. I don’t think he plays dirty at all,” Odom said. “He plays every game to win it. The game’s physical. He gets beat up and beat down.”

Regarding Jackson’s comments, Odom smiled and said: “That’s P.J. I’ve got to be a little more political with what I say. I don’t have a championship. He’s got a right to say whatever he wants to say. After a few championships, maybe I can talk crazy a little bit.”

Jackson has coached nine championship teams, tying him with former Boston coach Red Auerbach for the most in NBA history.

Walton said Bryant is an aggressive player, but that’s it.

“He wants to win at all costs,” Walton said. “He’s not dirty at all. He’s not out there trying to injure people. He hits us with elbows all the time — that’s part of basketball.”

 

[cranrab]

penalize tobe

what a bitch.

first he moans and complains when charles barkley speaks his mind.

now he's complaining about what some people are saying about how he manages his elbows.

seems pretty obvious by now that tobe's more interested in managing his image than he is leading his team to wins.

maybe this is where all of his competitiveness is too.

 

[cranrab]

penalize tobe

watching the tournament all day in my office, and the nike commercial came on.

you know, the one titled SECOND COMING and has juelz santana rapping while you see shots of amare, matrix, nash, chris paul and some euros.

but i had to laugh my ass off when they showed tobe, because the lyrics take on a different meaning when you see his face:

even though we stand alone we stand together.
They say a family that prays together, stays together.
And one that walks apart just falls apart.
So, together we stand, divided we fall.
United, we form Voltron and take on all.

 

[Rollie_Fingaz]

I was called a racist at my job for the following statement:

For years David Stern has been pimping the next big young black superstar in an attempt to recreate the Golden age when Jordan, Magic and Barkley were in the league. He was hoping among all hope that he could make another Jordan. It didn't work. His last attempt was with LeBron, but that is another story.

Stern went all out with Kobe. Kobe fucked up over and over again. And let's be honest, I don't care how many jerseys he sells, Kobe is NOT as popular as Jordan was. He is not strong enough to carry the league from a marketing standpoint.

What is populer in the NBA is determined by the people that watch it. The "Showtime" days are fucking over..and no matter what Stern did to try and recreate it didn't work. The fans like a more accessable dude. They want a guy who is more like the cat you see everyday. By all rights, Stern should have made A.I. more of a spokesperson..instead he picked Kobe. Kobe is a quiet person by nature, which fucked up his relationship with the fans. Shaq gives out toys in South Central for Christmas. Kobe makes private donations. Both have equal vaule on the surface, buit which one is the fan going to remember most?

Instead of making Kobe stand up and be nore accessible, Stern hid his flaws, but yet put A.I. on blast. (seeing what A,I went through and how hard he tries actually made him MORE popular.) People grew tired of him. They grew tired of refs giving him superstar calls.

In my opinion, Stern gave up on trying to promote American players. He sees a global market. The only way to get more interest is to make it seem as if they are equal to the American player. Now the foreign player plays better team ball, but it is a boring style of play (see Princeton play and you'll get the drift.) Steve Nash doesn't count because he is Canadian and played a susbstantial amount of ball here.

Enter Dirk. Dirk is a good player, fundamentally sound. Out of all the Euros, he is probablly the most marketable. Add to the fact he's in a decent market. Dirk gets hyped to the moon for being average. I remember Magic Johnson criticized KG for not stepping up in the playoffs, and not having a go-to move. The same can be said of Dirk, but Dirk is a white Euro player. Switch Dirk and KG and let me see what he could do on the T-Wolves. Granted Cuban opens his wallet better than McHale, but the fact is put Dirk on another team and do you think he'd be as successful?

But back to my point. Stern doesn't understand todays basketball fan, so instead of doing that he is given up on it to go after the world market. Kobe will be the first to feel the sting of this.

 

[Rollie_Fingaz]

Costly words

NEW YORK (AP) -- The Los Angeles Lakers and Phil Jackson were fined $50,000 apiece by the NBA on Thursday after the coach said the league was conducting a "witch hunt" against Kobe Bryant.

Bryant recently received two one-game suspensions this season for striking players in the face after taking a shot. The league retroactively assessed Bryant with a flagrant foul for an elbow to Philadelphia's Kyle Korver last week, a play that didn't even draw a foul.

NBA executive vice president Stu Jackson said the fine was for Jackson's "public criticisms of the NBA."

"We've made our opinion clear and have been penalized by the league for doing so," Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said. "We have nothing more to say on this issue."

Bryant, speaking in Denver before the fine was levied, said he appreciated Jackson standing up for him.

"He was defending his player," Bryant said at a shootaround for a game against the Nuggets.

Jackson clearly was upset with the NBA's actions.

"It shouldn't even have been a flagrant 1," Jackson said Tuesday. "That's crazy. That's a vendetta. They have a witch hunt going on. It's nuts. Guys riding somebody. Everybody does that in this league. It's just becoming a witch hunt now."

Bryant said the suspensions won't change his shooting style. He's second in the league in scoring behind Denver's Carmelo Anthony.

"You have to be careful about how you play the game," he said. "Go out there and play hard and do the best you can. Hopefully you don't get suspended or anything like that."

Asked if the league was overreacting, Bryant said: "I don't really want to get into it too much. You can't say anything about it without saying something inflammatory. I'd rather leave it alone and focus on the game."

Jackson was fined $25,000 in November for critical remarks. He said Wednesday he wasn't afraid of his comments leading to another fine.

Jackson didn't speak to the media after the shootaround in Denver.

 

[cranrab]

penalize tobe



ernie posed the question to AI post game tonight:

"do you think the league is out to get [tobe]?"

in the midst of a series of chuckles, AI responded "no". the question is so laughable that AI's response set off kenny smith and charles barkley into laughter also.

 

[cranrab]

michael cooper on 'witch hunt' to penalize Kobe

quote from the la times:

In Staples Center on Friday night to coach his Thunderbirds, 95-89 winners over the L.A. D-Fenders, Cooper was asked to name the best defender on the Lakers.

"Luke Walton is very good," Cooper said. "Smush Parker is decent."

And that was it.