Lakers don’t want to hear ‘dirty’ talk

Kobe Bryant was peeved, Phil Jackson defiant.

Just another day at the Lakers’ practice facility in El Segundo.

The league hadn’t handed down a fine to Jackson, yet, for saying a “witch hunt” was taking place, but the Lakers’ coach wasn’t about to step back from his comments Tuesday regarding the NBA’s latest disciplinary action toward Bryant.

“Why would I hear from the league?” Jackson asked rhetorically. “They like it. They know that there’s a corrective person out here that speaks the truth.”

Bryant has been hit with two one-game suspensions for striking players in the face after getting his shot blocked, last week against Minnesota guard Marko Jaric and Jan. 28 against San Antonio guard Manu Ginobili. Bryant was also given a Flagrant Foul I on Monday for elbowing Philadelphia forward Kyle Korver in the jaw while dribbling up court last Friday.

As national radio shows continued to debate if Bryant was a dirty player, at least two people stood in his defense -- including Bryant himself, who called such a discussion “insulting.”

“I’m not a dirty player -- I never have been, never will be,” he said. “It’s ridiculous. If somebody wants to criticize me for the way I play on the basketball court, at least make it something that’s somewhat realistic. Say I shoot too much. Don’t just knock me for something that I’m just absolutely not.”

Jackson, in his seventh season as Bryant’s coach, scoffed at the concept. He observed that Karl Malone “delivered a blow every time he shot the ball” and mentioned a game last season in which Allen Iverson bloodied the lip of Lakers guard Sasha Vujacic by throwing an elbow.

“I know it’s not a contact sport per se, but it’s a physical game and there’s a lot of intimidation,” Jackson said. “I think that Kobe plays the game within the bounds. There’s a certain rule that we have in this game about how to play it. The men play it. That’s why it’s called the NBA -- it’s No Boys Allowed.”

Jackson launched his defense of Bryant on Tuesday, saying there was a “vendetta” from the league against Bryant and that “they have a witch hunt going on.”

Jackson has already been docked $25,000 for criticizing referees after a November loss in Utah, and the league is reviewing his latest opinion, NBA spokesman Tim Frank said.

Bryant’s suspensions and flagrant foul have created plenty of chatter in NBA circles. Many players have said his actions weren’t dirty, including the three involved in the incidents for which he was penalized.

TNT analyst Reggie Miller, a five-time All-Star who was known to draw fouls sometimes by kicking his legs out after shooting, took it a step further last week by criticizing the league’s second suspension of Bryant.

“Once again, I think this is Commissioner [David] Stern and [league disciplinarian] Stu Jackson stepping in over their boundaries and undermining the officials,” he said. “You can’t go back a day later, look at the film and suspend the best player. Let the officials do their job.”

Bryant is the only player to be suspended twice this season, but the NBA has taken a harsher line in recent years. It has become common for Stu Jackson to review games on video and assess fines and suspensions for things that weren’t penalized in the game.

Minnesota’s Kevin Garnett was suspended one game for throwing a jab at Detroit’s Antonio McDyess. Phoenix’s Raja Bell was suspended one game for kicking Toronto’s Andrea Bargnani. Atlanta’s Zaza Pachulia was suspended one game for elbowing Seattle’s Johan Petro.

League-wide, players have had to adapt.

“You’ve just got to deal with it,” said Clippers forward Elton Brand, commenting generally about the league’s increased scrutiny of on-court behavior. “After the [2004] incident in Detroit with the brawl, I got into an incident two games after that -- it was just a shoving match where I didn’t throw a punch -- and I got suspended for a game. I felt like, ‘Aw man, they’re just picking on me.’ I felt I didn’t do anything for it to result in a suspension, but you know what the rules are. You know they’re going to be proactive to try to clean up the league and the image.”

Bryant’s teammates, though obviously biased, insist their leading scorer is not a dirty player.

“He’s a very aggressive player and he wants to win at all costs, but he’s not out there trying to injure people,” forward Luke Walton said. “He enjoys contact [but] helps people up off the ground, even on the other team. He hits us with elbows all the time [in practice]. It’s part of the game. I know they’re trying to clean it up, but you can’t just start calling someone dirty because he’s playing the same way he’s always played.”

Said forward Lamar Odom: “I think people are making a big deal out of nothing.”

It has all left Bryant’s coach scratching his soul patch.

“I can’t figure it out,” he said of the league’s recent actions. “I’m sure they want him to play this summer, don’t they? They’re not going to run this guy off of one of the great shows of the game and something they need him to do, and that’s to help win the world games and an Olympic gold medal.”

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Walton and Odom could both be in the starting lineup tonight against Denver, Jackson said.... Brian Cook, who sustained a sprained ankle Tuesday at practice, will not play tonight and is also expected to miss Friday’s game against Portland.

mike.bresnahan@latimes.com

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Times staff writers Mark Heisler and Jason Reid contributed to this report.