Following a difficult loss to Atlanta on Wednesday night where Kobe Bryant hurt his ankle on a suspicious play by Dahntay Jones (how has no one mentioned the spelling of that name?!), Laker Nation woke up groggy and angry after their lord and savior was injured and nothing was called.
To add fuel to the fire, Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson hit the airwaves and backed Bryant early in the morning. Jackson went one step further and called it a dirty play.
"It's not a clean play," Jackson said on ESPN radio Thursday morning. "It's a dirty play."
The Los Angeles Lakers had a day off on Thursday due to travel.
But for the remainder of the day, a firestorm raged surrounding the play. Bryant echoed his frustrations from the night before, but this time, he did so via Twitter.
Regardless of whether it was a dirty play or not, just about everyone seemed to agree a foul should have been called (OK, a few voices stated that Bryant kicked his leg out, but the vast majority agreed with the notion that it should have been called a foul).
Eventually, the NBA league office decided it needed to make a statement and admit fault.
"After review at the league office, video replay confirmed that referees missed a foul call on Jones as he challenged Bryant's shot and did not give him the opportunity to land cleanly back on the floor," the league's statement read. "Bryant should have been granted two free throws."
Well, that is settled, then. Everyone feel better?
Kobe is still a gimp who is icing his ankle furiously, the Lakers still lost to an Atlanta Hawks team that was half strength (half is being generous), and the newest question is "will Jodie Meeks or Steve Blake start in place of Kobe Bryant on Friday?"
Thanks for the statement, NBA. Really, it did wonders for the Lakers’ playoffs hopes and Kobe’s ankle.
While you're here, you know what would be helpful? If you decided to rescind a couple Kobe technical fouls, that would be nice. Oh, you won't do that? How about a break on that luxury tax? No? Nevermind then.
