La La Coach

The Lakers' esteemed head coach is not happy with the suspension of his star, Kobe Bryant, for smacking another player in the face? This is one fight Jackson shouldn't take on. Stu Jackson, who handed out the suspension, did the Lakers a favor only giving Kobe one game.

Even more ludicrous than Phil arguing against the suspension is his assertion that Kobe flailing his arms to "create space" is a natural basketball movement. Not all habit are good. Should it be allowable if someone naturally punches kicks a defender in the man region while on the way to a lay-up? What if a defender punches the offensive player in the face in the act of stealing the ball? I'm sure Dikembe Mutombo would love to be allowed to elbow people in the face intentionally to clear them out when blocking out, posting up, and rebounding.

Kobe seems to be the only player who performs this action. I played basketball for years and never once did I smack someone who blocked my jumper, at least not on the spot. Phil needs to take more time convincing his star that he needs to quit flailing and just play, rather than making himself look like an idiot arguing against a suspension that was really quite nice to LA.