We’re probably going to be talking about this for a while! Bad news: Kobe Bryant is out indefinitely with a severe left ankle sprain he suffered in last night’s 96-92 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. Good news: X-rays were negative. He rolled his left ankle after coming down on the foot of Atlanta Hawks guard Dahntay Jones.
Well Kobe is pissed about it because he thinks it was a dirty play and he wants revenge! Check out what else Kobe had to say about the play and the video…
Via Dave McMenamin at ESPN:
Bryant would not speculate whether he would play Friday against the Indiana Pacers, but he left Philips Arena on Wednesday walking with a limp but without the aid of crutches.
Bryant had 31 points, seven rebounds and five assists in the loss. He was hurt on a baseline jumper that would have forced overtime if it had gone in with 3.9 seconds remaining.
Bryant appeared to land on Dahntay Jones’ foot and twisted his left ankle, crumpling to the court in pain.
No foul was called.
After the game, Bryant said referees need to do a better job protecting shooters from defenders who go underneath them while shooting.
“As defensive players, you can contest shots, but you can’t walk underneath players,” Bryant said. “That’s dangerous for the shooter.”
Bryant and Jones have a history (SEE VIDEO BELOW). The Hawks’ swingman was called for a flagrant foul for tripping Bryant in Game 4 of the 2009 Western Conference finals when he played for the Denver Nuggets.
The play jogged Bryant’s memory even further than that, all the way back to Game 2 of the 2000 NBA Finals when he played just seven minutes after landing on then-Indiana Pacers guard and ESPN NBA analyst Jalen Rose’s foot.
“He Jalen Rose’d me,” Bryant said of Jones on Wednesday night.
A reporter asked Bryant if he felt like Jones’ play was “deliberate.”
“I don’t ever want to put that on somebody, I really don’t,” Bryant said. “I just think players need to be made conscious of it and I think officials need to protect shooters. Period.”
Deliberate or not, Bryant was upset that Wednesday likely was the Lakers’ final game against the Hawks this season.
“I can’t get my mind past the fact that I got to wait a year to get revenge,” he said.
VIDEO:
Video from 2009:
