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League Suspends Kobe Bryant Again

The stuff that makes for highlight videos: Kobe Bryant gets the ball 30 feet from the basket, fakes a shot, dribbles left, crosses right, left again, then right again, pulls for an impossible jump shot leaning sideways, forward, then following through with an elbow hitting the defender in the face. Oops. It happened again. For the second time this season, the previous time six weeks ago, Kobe Bryant was suspended by the league for ?an acceptable movement.?

On Tuesday?s game last week, the defender was Marko Jaric of the Minnesota Timberwolves. The next day, in a game against the Milwaukee Bucks, he had to watch the game on television. Both games were Laker losses, extending their losing streak to four games. Jaric blocked Bryant?s shot with one minute left in regulation, before the game went into double overtime. A regular foul was called against Bryant. In a game against the San Antonio Spurs in late January, the defender was Manu Ginobili, who defended Bryant in the final seconds of the forth quarter. No foul was called at the time, but a suspension ensued.

Bryant admitted he is concerned about gaining a reputation of playing dirty ball. He said he was merely trying to draw contact and did not do it intentionally, as the league suspension would imply. Jaric agreed with Bryant, saying he did not ?think he did it intentionally.? Perhaps Bryant is the victim of new league policy to call plays more stringently. Will it make him change anything about his game? ?Just got to play your game,? Bryant said.