Kobe Bryant - The New Bully on the Block?

Published 08 March 07 03:33 PM | scoutmom
Tuesday night's shot to the face of Minnesota's Marko Jaric is just the latest by Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant.  Last time, it was San Antonio's Manu Ginobili.  Each time, Kobe misses his jump shot, and he follows through not by going for the ball, but rather by connecting with the face of another player.  And, it seems he's picking on the little guy, like every schoolyard bully.  "I don't think he would've done that to (Minnesota's) Ricky Davis," said one Eastern Conference scout Wednesday.  "In part, Kobe probably thought that if anything went down, he'd beat Marko's a**.  No question in his mind.  With Ricky, he's probably got a little more respect for him as a player, and probably a little more concern.  'I might be able to beat his ass, too, but I'm not necessarily sure it's worth the trouble.'  The respect factor, of who it is, plays a big role in it."

And, what was the league's reaction to this latest hit, especially coming so close after his shot upside Ginobili's head in late January?  Stu Jackson's office gave him a one-game suspension.  Almost seems to be condoning his action, kind of like when school officials look the other way when the kid wailing away on the weak and defenseless is the star football player.

And where did Kobe learn this from?  Maybe from his old teammate Shaquille O'Neal.  Of course, O'Neal was a little better at concealing it.  Shaq is the master of getting "accidentally" tangled up with other players on his way to the floor.  Then again, as big as Shaq was, guys were after him even more than they are Kobe, and he loved to beat 'em back.  He also did it on offense, not on defense, the better to conceal it a bit.

How do the NBA fans feel?  Based on what I've seen and heard, they're about evenly split between support for someone they say is only 'following through' on his shot (sideways?  really?) and that the other guys deserve it for coming in so close, and those who say he is nothing but a thug who deserves harsher penalties.  As one NBA fan commented "Talented?  Without a doubt.  Driven?  Absolutely!  Professional?  Hell No!!, and classless as can be.  Nope, he'll never be like Mike no matter if he scores 150 points in a game."

And it's about time the NBA stepped in and stopped all of this, from everyone.  Between the violence on the court, and what gets taken into the stands, enough is enough already.  I mean fights are for hockey games, right?
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Comments

# BJ not BK said on March 8, 2007 08:31 PM:

I use to be a hue NBA fan.  I loved the game, I loved the teams, and there use to be some great personalities you could really get behind and pull for.  Guys like Bird, Magic Johnson, The Chief, Mckale, Ainge, Jordan, Pippen, Mark Jackson, and sometimes even Barkley.  In my opinion hip-hop has destroyed the NBA culture and replaced atheletes with would be rappers trying to gain street cred.  Unfortunately the NFL is slowly turning this way as well.  At least baseball, hockey, golf, and tennis have been somewhat immune from this onslaught of thuggery.  I am over it.

# fleur_de_lis said on March 9, 2007 01:34 PM:

It's time MEN got back into sports. Not selfish little waa-waahs. I don't care how 'good' you are, if you can't deport yourself like you should, you need to be punished in a way that really hurts.

# scoutmom said on March 9, 2007 10:32 PM:

Exactly.  And I think the one game suspensions are mere child's play.  Do you know some of the biggest complaints were from non-Lakers fans?  Kobe goes to places like Milwaukee once a year.  Don't suspend him on a road game, we want to see him play.  Then tell him to grow up and be a man and behave himself!!