Kobe Bryant Suspended One Game

[BigKaboom2]

Nobody posted this yet? Weird...

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.

"I'm blown away by it. It makes no sense."
-- Kobe Bryant on his suspension

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."

You can see the video on ESPN.com. Whoever decided that what happened was worthy of a suspension is on some high-grade crack, though in the video Kobe is interviewed and admits to flailing his arms and legs around after a jump shot to "accentuate the foul," which I found hilarious.

[Jeffx]

Yeah, I'm royally ticked-off about this. Kobe's only NY appearance, and the league suspends him. F-n bullsh!t. I don't even feel like going to the game tonight.

[dada]

Lol, I wont even say much about this besides its utterly ridiculous. Not only doesnt he get calls on the court but now he's getting suspended for nada. Ginobli of all people as well, the guy who flops and throws his arms around the most.


edit: Appeal denied. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2748084

Shame on the NBA.

[cyanide]

It's at a bad angle to see the elbow impact, but I think the suspension was totally unwarranted.

[dada]

It's at a bad angle to see the elbow impact, but I think the suspension was totally unwarranted.

I kinda get the feeling their trying to make an example of him or something but I have no clue for what. I looked at the replays and thats just ridiculous they feel that the incident warrants a suspension. With this, I expect to see every incidental elbow handled with at least a one game suspension. NBA, you fucked up.

[[Q]]

considering that it was "unintentional"... I think that it's complete bullshit but still pretty awesome.

[bigh0rt]

There wasn't even a foul called on the play. Crazy suspension.

[KB24]

This is completely BS, he just tried to get the foul and gets suspended for it? And he even said sorry to him before OT...

[Drex]

You know, I lol'ed. But it's still a fucked up suspension.

[Gundy]

Here's a better video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a7TGrVIu3o

It does look like he smacked Ginobli on purpose.

[Axel]

Doesn't bother me, but then I don't like Kobe or the Lakers.

[dada]

Ah well, I am confident the team will rally and win this one for the Kob-meister. Stick it to the man!!!!

[Klayface]

It seems like since that whole rape incident they really have given up on Kobe being the face of the league. I hate the guy, but he gets no calls at all, while Wade.. do I even need to say it? Its kinda messed up if you think about it for a minute. But then again, karmas a bitch.

[BigKaboom2]

Here's a better video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a7TGrVIu3o

It does look like he smacked Ginobli on purpose.

It's a lot worse than I thought it was...wow. No reason at all to swing his arm in that direction, but he wasn't even looking at Manu. Very strange.

[Carmo]

lol, I absolutely love Kobe and am probably his biggest fan in the whole of Australia, but that was a fairly blatent hit. Don't know if it warrented suspension, but he did do it on purpose.

[cyanide]

Here's a better video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a7TGrVIu3o

It does look like he smacked Ginobli on purpose.

It's a lot worse than I thought it was...wow. No reason at all to swing his arm in that direction, but he wasn't even looking at Manu. Very strange.

I think it was more of an instinctual move to either push Manu away to get to the ball, or to regain balance as he was in mid-air, but really, it's hard to say. He could either have done it on purpose, but it was an unintentional but instinctual move to either protect himself or to get to the ball.

[hedpetcd]

lol, I absolutely love Kobe and am probably his biggest fan in the whole of Australia, but that was a fairly blatent hit. Don't know if it warrented suspension, but he did do it on purpose.

you obviously watched the wrong video. this is just a classic example of Stu Jackson's stupidity. the guy is a joke.

what an unbelievably stupid suspension. it was so obviously unintentional.

[dada]

Here's a better video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a7TGrVIu3o

It does look like he smacked Ginobli on purpose.

It's a lot worse than I thought it was...wow. No reason at all to swing his arm in that direction, but he wasn't even looking at Manu. Very strange.

I think it was more of an instinctual move to either push Manu away to get to the ball, or to regain balance as he was in mid-air, but really, it's hard to say. He could either have done it on purpose, but it was an unintentional but instinctual move to either protect himself or to get to the ball.

aia got the same feeling. If its the end of the game you know calls arent made so its basically a free for all. If your shot gets blocked you kinda try to clear out and get it back so you can throw it up again quickly. I just think given the situation it wasnt handled in the best manner.

Funny thing was in the game tonight Brian Cook hit a guy in his face after taking a jumpshot. Is that a suspension as well? If so then its getting a tad ridiculous. If not then the NBA is too caught up raping themselves.

[---]

I watched the game also and it didn't really have much of an effect on the game... the commentators didn't make a big deal out of it, the refs didn't do anything, and there was no harsh feelings from either side. I was pretty stunned to find out he was suspended over this. Whenever Kobe is airborne he does crazy shit to get an upper hand on his opponent, and this was barely one of his more over the top mid air moves

I always see Kobe go up for a jumpshot and does some crazy midair movement to somehow manage to get a pass off to an open teammate. He does it all the time. Just like how Tracy McGrady sticks his leg out like a ballet dancer on every jumpshot, it's sorta just part of how they play.

[Patr1ck]

Hey, after tonights Lakers/Knicks game Brian Cook did the same thing on a follow through when he was blocked by Jeffries late in the 4th. So he should be suspended next.

I think its just Stern not wanting to see his Knicks get Kobe'd.

[Carmo]

lol, I absolutely love Kobe and am probably his biggest fan in the whole of Australia, but that was a fairly blatent hit. Don't know if it warrented suspension, but he did do it on purpose.

you obviously watched the wrong video. this is just a classic example of Stu Jackson's stupidity. the guy is a joke.

what an unbelievably stupid suspension. it was so obviously unintentional.

Like I said, I'm not sure if it warrented suspension, but I didn't watch the video wrong (how can you watch something wrong???) How is it "so obviously" unintentional? I was looking at it and wondering when it was gonna happen because it was just a normal jump shot to start with, then his arm "just happened" to move straight into Manu's face...
Like I said, I am a big Kobe fan, but he hasn't done anything like that before and he doesn't ever shoot shots like that, lol. The only thing I can think of to defend Kobe would be to say that he was trying to get Manu's arm out of the way and accidently hit his face instead.

[Drex]

You know, after watching the video, there's no reason for Kobe to swing his arm like that. But I still think he didn't deserve that suspension.

[Abctest123]

I think it was more of an instinctual move to either push Manu away to get to the ball, or to regain balance as he was in mid-air, but really, it's hard to say. He could either have done it on purpose, but it was an unintentional but instinctual move to either protect himself or to get to the ball.

Agreed. I think it was either what you said, or he was trying to get a foul called against Ginobilli. If anyone remembers some of the baskets Kobe scored during his 81 point game, he did something similar during that game, same action but didnt hit anyone. In that game, he was at around the right corner of the freethrow line, and he did that motion to get a foul called. Cyanide, you as a fellow Toronto fan might remember this basket. If anyone wants a hint on where it is, I remember the shot happened when the game was already out of reach for the Raptors.

EDIT: Heres the VIDEO. This was during his 81 point game. Take a look at the basket he scores at around 1:51-1:56. He does the same flailing arm motion to get the call.

[---]

Like I said, I am a big Kobe fan, but he hasn't done anything like that before and he doesn't ever shoot shots like that, lol.

I can't count how many times I have seen Kobe trying to draw a foul by flailing his arms around like that. Surely as a Kobe fan you must watch him alot and see him do this. When he goes up for a shot and there is some slight contact, he will try draw a foul by falling or flailing his arms/legs around. When he goes to take a jump shot and is about to be blocked, he does the same maneuver to try get the ball out to a teammate. It was definitely an accident that came from him trying to draw a foul.

[Gundy]

EDIT: Heres the VIDEO. This was during his 81 point game. Take a look at the basket he scores at around 1:51-1:56. He does the same flailing arm motion to get the call.

I guess you're right. That's a pretty weird thing to do.