Uh-Oh. Seems we might have some major d*ck riding going on here between the NBA and Kobe. I can’t even get mad at the black mamba though. It just shows how powerful of a figure he is in the league. By now I am sure you have all seen or heard about Kobe spraining his ankle when he missed a buzzer beater against the Hawks and landed on Dahntay Jones ankle. Kobe has been saying the play was dirty and a foul should of been called. You can see that story so you can catch up by clicking HERE. No foul was called during the game and the Lakers lost to Atlanta while Kobe laid on the court in pain. But now the NBA itself has spoken and they seem to side with Kobe, but they are dead wrong. Read more after the jump.
@IamJOE357
According to Mike Bresnahan of the LA Times:
The league office released an official statement on Thursday saying Jones impeded Bryant’s landing area and the Lakers guard should have gone to the free-throw line: “After review at league office, video replay confirmed referees missed foul call on Jones as he challenged Bryant’s shot…”. They went on to add “Jones did not give him the opportunity to land cleanly back on the floor. Bryant should have been granted two free throws.”
Maybe I am just dumb, or blind. Or maybe the NBA felt pressured to take Kobe’s side. There was nothing dirty about the play to begin with. There was literally less than 5 seconds left on the clock and Jones was trying to make a game saving defensive play. Kobe still got the shot off anyway, but according to actual NBA rules, if anyone should of been called for a foul, it was KOBE, not Jones. A shooter is not allowed to kick out his leg in the act of shooting to cause contact with the defensive player which is exactly what Kobe did. The fact he landed on Jones foot is not Jones problem. This looks suspect for the NBA to say Kobe was fouled, when the rules the league made, state Kobe was the one who committed a foul. Dahntay Jones does not need to give Kobe room to land if a foul by Bryant was also committed and not called. This is not my opinion people, this is a actual NBA rule. They should be ashamed coming out publicly to defend Kobe. For those who aren’t convinced, watch the video of the play below.
