NBA witch hunt?

I’m not going to hide my distaste for the Los Angeles Lakers. I can’t stand Kobe Bryant. I can’t stand Phil Jackson’s ability to always coach a team I hate. When the NBA handed out $50,000 fines to Jackson and the Lakers for criticizing the league’s decision to suspend Bryant and calling it a witch hunt; I did not complain. All bias aside, I believe Kobe is getting the correct punishment.

Take a trip over to the Siegel Center, Cary Street Gym, or to MCV. Watch the NCAA tournament this week (men’s or women’s). Check out your local high school basketball team in action. Pay attention closely, and you will see a variety of basketball moves. The most common, the jump shot, sometimes results in the shooter being fouled. In my many years of basketball, I have yet to see the person playing DEFENSE get fouled while guarding a jumper. That’s exactly what Kobe Bryant has done on two occasions. Mike Miller of the Memphis Grizzlies and Kyle Korver of the Philadelphia 76ers have both suffered injuries – albeit minor – due to Bryant following through with his elbow on screens and on shots. Call me old school, but these aren’t natural basketball motions.

Before Bryant, I had never seen a player get hit in the eye defending a jumper. An elbow to the eye in a loose ball situation or going for the rebound maybe, but while waiting for the player to land after a shot? I’m not going to question Kobe’s fundamentals. Scoring 80+ points in a game is enough to prove that he has skills; but let’s get real. The play in the NBA is diluted more and more by the calls that the officials don’t make rather than the calls they do. Believe it or not there is a rulebook for basketball, and there is a section on violations and fouls. Fouls are called to protect the players and keep brutality and injury out of the game. This doesn’t just apply to the person handling or shooting the ball. This doesn’t just apply to the players who make the all-star game every year. The rules apply to everyone. A foul is a foul whether you like it or not. A flagrant foul is defined as an exceptionally hard foul. Both of these violations, clocking Miller in the throat with an elbow, and giving Korver a black eye with the same body part are easily defined under such terms. Coming off of a screen, why are Kobe’s elbows anywhere close to Miller’s throat? After his jump shot, why is Kobe’s elbow anywhere near Korver’s face? I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt that the fouls were not intentional (which carries heavier penalties if I’m not mistaken). I find it hard to believe, however, that Kobe meant anything good by having his elbows in such awkward places at such strange times.

Getting back to coach Jackson referring to the NBA’s ruling as a witch hunt- I respect a coach that protects his players. However, I do not respect a coach that says the NBA is out to get one of the most popular players in America. If Ronny Turiaf was given the same treatment, I doubt Jackson would make that big a fuss. Rules are rules, and even the big names in sports need to follow them.