"The swinging of Bryant's arm appears to be an unnatural motion, no matter what he was trying to do, whether it was maintaining his balance, attempting to draw contact or taking an outright cheap shot at Manu. Only Bryant knows for sure." - ESPN's Chris Sheridan
I agree with Sheridan's assessment because he doesn't claim to know what Kobe was trying to do with that arm flail. No one knows for sure, including the league office. Unless, of course, the video they were watching was taken with that special camera which records intent. And because of that, I don't think he should have been suspended.
I mean, Manu flails his arms like that ALL THE TIME. Which is probably why he called the league office in Kobe's defense (according to Steve Hartman, Vic The Brick, and Mychal Thompson on their Xtra Sports 570 radio show). He knows that it could easily be him next time.
Bruce Bowen's momentum often carries him under a jump shooter after he challenges a shot, sometimes leading to the shooter turning an ankle. But can the league effectively stop Bowen from doing this? No, because they cannot prove that Bowen has a malicious intent to harm. Bruce also called the league office to defend Kobe (same source).
The arm flail is something that Laker fans have seen Kobe do many, many times and it is usually accompanied with a faintly audible "Heyyyyy" that gets caught by the court microphone. And this isn't the first time it has hit someone. I remember one time he cracked Dirk in the face doing the same arm flail and Dirk was called with a foul. Then he got so mad he threw his mouthpiece and got T'd up. So, even in Kobe's estimation -- that he was just trying to draw a foul-- it's not like this is the most pristine of basketball plays we're talking about here.
But a suspension? How about a retroactive Flagrant I?
I mean to me, the hit on Manu was at worst, a loose ball foul. A loose ball foul that didn't get called because there was less than 10 seconds left and the refs had swallowed their whistles; trust me, there have been greater travesties in the last 10 seconds of an NBA game. But if the league, from its high horse, really wanted to dole out a non-trivial punishment over the heads of the game refs, then the retroactive Flagrant I would have effectively disciplined Kobe without taking him away from the MSG crowd last night.
Seriously, it's what Jesus would have done.
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2 comments:
I've been having this sinking feeling for the last several seasons now that there is this deep seeded conspiracy against our beloved Kobe Bryant. I admit that I am a bit paranoid about things and my imagination can get the best of me at times, but really.. COME ON!!! I seriously think that he was given this suspension because he's been "clean" for far too long and he was "due" for another incident where the league can act against him to put such a SUPER star in his place. Whatever. Don't they know this only pisses him off and he'll just end up taking it out on the court scoring, oh lets say about 43 and double clutching a reverse dunk or some wild shit like that.. oh wait... maybe thats why...
man, that shit was nasty. he is the only who can consistently pull of that dunk.
that one on sprewell..
that one on kg..
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