Advertisement

Bryant says he was looking for call, but he gets called out

Share

The game was over, the suspension served, nothing left for Kobe Bryant to do but wonder what happens from here.

For the second time in 5 1/2 weeks, Bryant had been punished by the NBA for hitting a defender in the face on the follow-through from his jump shot.

He sat in a Milwaukee hotel Wednesday and “monitored the airwaves,” listening to what the TV folks had to say after the latest incident, in which he smacked Minnesota’s Marko Jaric across the nose Tuesday night.

Advertisement

When the Lakers played the Bucks on Wednesday, he couldn’t go to the arena because of league rules. He couldn’t watch the game in his room because his TV didn’t have the right channel. So he went downstairs to the hotel restaurant and watched the Lakers lose their fourth consecutive game. Later, he returned a phone call and responded to a question: Is he worried about being known as a dirty player?

“That’s what I’m concerned about,” Bryant said. “I don’t want to have that reputation.

“I’m concerned about that. For them to try to make an example out of me is upsetting.”

In the last minute of regulation in Tuesday’s double-overtime loss at Minnesota, Bryant flailed his arms after his shot was blocked by Jaric. The officials called a foul on Bryant.

“Not a flagrant,” he said. “Not a technical. A loose-ball foul.”

Against San Antonio on Jan. 28, Bryant made a similar play when shooting in the last seconds of the fourth quarter, this time catching Manu Ginobili in the face. In that case, no foul was called, but Bryant was suspended for the Lakers’ next game at New York.

Stu Jackson, the NBA’s vice president of basketball operations, said that in Tuesday’s play, Bryant’s arm went backward “in an aggressive manner” and said it was “not an acceptable movement.”

Bryant said: “This is ridiculous. To suspend me is to say, ‘He did it intentionally.’ Let’s think about this with the rational brain. We have 10 guys on the roster. We’re starting this road trip now. We’ve dropped two games on this [four-game] road trip. Everybody’s out. It’s a close game. Why would I intentionally hit this kid in the face and get suspended and take our roster down to nine? It makes no sense.”

I watched some footage of some of Bryant’s game-winning shots on YouTube and in each case his follow-through was the same: arms dropping straight down. He acknowledged the Jaric play was different because he was looking for a call.

Advertisement

“You try to draw contact,” Bryant said. “You create a foul.

“I was looking to draw some type of foul. What you do is try to draw something.”

He said Jaric did not foul him.

“He made a good defensive play and got the ball,” Bryant said. “To try to hit somebody that comes from behind or intentionally try to do that makes zero sense.”

Jaric echoed Bryant’s thoughts in an interview with ESPN.com.

“I don’t think he did it intentionally, and I don’t think players should be suspended for things that happen unintentionally,” Jaric said before the suspension was announced. “I think he was trying to draw a foul, and he swung his hand out to make it look dramatic, and he hit me by accident. He apologized right after.”

The league took a harder stance. All of a sudden a new pattern is emerging, a new image battle Bryant has to fight, just when his team-oriented play and emphasis on community service seemed to have him back in the public’s good graces.

Bryant’s off-court image isn’t of concern to the Lakers. The Lakers are in the business of winning games, and that’s where Bryant’s potential new “dirty” tag could come into play.

What happens to the Lakers and their playoff hopes (which are starting to feel weighted down like a light horse) if the officials start keeping a closer eye on Bryant and he finds himself in foul trouble night after night?

I’ve spent a lot of time in NBA locker rooms, and with the exception of Raja Bell’s stall in Phoenix, I haven’t heard Bryant accused of being a dirty player.

Advertisement

The funny thing about the NBA is sometimes you’re better off having a reputation and sticking with it. Bruce Bowen has more hand-to-body contact than a masseuse, but he gets away with it more often that not, because it’s acknowledged that it’s his type of game.

But when someone starts acting out of character, it catches the league’s attention. It’s on the lookout. And now it will be looking at Bryant.

So what will he do differently?

“Nothing,” Bryant said. “Go out and play. Just go out and play. That’s all you can do. You can’t go out there and think about intentionally hitting somebody or something like that. Just got to play your game.”

*

J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Adande, go to latimes.com/adande.

Advertisement