May 4th: "Kobe Taken Down; Bell Taken Out" "Kobe, Lakers try to knock out Suns at Staples Center"

 
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Phil
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PostPosted: Thu May 04, 2006 4:42 am    Post subject: May 4th: "Kobe Taken Down; Bell Taken Out" "Kobe, Lakers try to knock out Suns at Staples Center"

Kobe Taken Down; Bell Taken Out
Suns' Bell is suspended for Game 6 tonight after his foul on Bryant, and the situation deteriorates into a war of words
By Mike Bresnahan, Times Staff Writer
May 4, 2006

Times are definitely changing. Large-scale squabbles are no longer limited to Lakers vs. Lakers.

Kobe Bryant and Raja Bell continued to trade insults Wednesday, and Coach Phil Jackson even ventured into the dispute, another compelling development in an already entertaining playoff series that ends tonight if the Lakers get their way, or else it's on to Phoenix for Game 7.

Bell was suspended by the league for tonight's game for "unnecessary and excessive contact" on a fourth-quarter foul Tuesday in which he wrapped his left arm around Bryant's neck and threw him to the floor.

Commissioner David Stern, speaking before Wednesday night's playoff game in Cleveland, called Bell's move "a very unmanly act, and it was unnecessary for our game" and said of the suspension, " … if that doesn't put our players on notice that we're here to protect them — protect them — then I don't know what will."

Bryant called the foul clothes-lining, Jackson called it "bulldogging."


Last edited by Phil on Thu May 04, 2006 7:44 am; edited 1 time in total
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PostPosted: Thu May 04, 2006 4:43 am    Post subject:

Brown Practices, Will 'Roll With the Punches'
By Mike Bresnahan, Times Staff Writer
May 4, 2006

The Los Angeles Police Department said Wednesday it was continuing to investigate allegations of sexual assault made against Kwame Brown, but the Laker center was not arrested and practiced with the team.

Police say a woman complained that Brown sexually assaulted her early last Saturday, hours after the Lakers defeated the Phoenix Suns in Game 3 of their best-of-seven playoff series.


"I'm just staying grounded, staying with my family," Brown said Wednesday. "I'll talk about it when the appropriate time is, but while it's an investigation, I can't speak about it. But I'm confident that it will get resolved."

Jason Lee, an LAPD spokesman, said the investigation was ongoing and that the district attorney had been notified of it.

Brown's attorney, Brian O'Neill, declined to comment on the allegations. When asked if he expected an arrest to be made, he said, "I certainly hope not."

Brown, who had 14 points and three rebounds in Tuesday's loss to the Suns in Game 5, is expected to play tonight in Game 6 at Staples Center.

"You've just got to roll with the punches," Brown said. "Life goes on. I've got a duty to my team and to myself. Just go out and play. You've got to go to work every day, don't you?"
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PostPosted: Thu May 04, 2006 4:45 am    Post subject:

For Brand, it's all about the Lakers
Joe Stevens, Staff writer

EL SEGUNDO It is no secret that Elton Brand is regarded as an all-around nice guy. He greets practically everybody in the Clippers organization by their first names and won the NBA's Sportsmanship Award this season.

Another thing about Brand is that he's honest, and Wednesday, he said that his team would be better off playing the Lakers than the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference semifinals.

"I think we match up better with the Lakers," he said. "They have more traditional big men. I don't know about Chris Mihm's availability, but Kwame Brown is more of a traditional big man. With Phoenix's bigs, Tim Thomas shoots threes, and Shawn Marion shoots 3s."

Most of the Clippers have made itbeen crystal clear that they want to face the Lakers, but that is more because of the possibility of having an intriguing "Hallway Series," or "Battle Hollywood," as Sam Cassell calls it.

The Clippers want to face the Lakers not as much because of having an advantage, although the Clippers would have homecourt advantage against the Lakers and not the Suns. The Clippers went 2-2 against both teams in the regular season.

Even without knowing for certain who they will play, the Clippers practiced with the other Los Angeles team in mind Wednesday.
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PostPosted: Thu May 04, 2006 4:47 am    Post subject:

Lakers and Suns Go to the Edge and Beyond


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By HOWARD BECK
Published: May 4, 2006

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., May 3 — There is malice on the court, a criminal accusation floating overhead and enough overheated rhetoric to last another month. Alas, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Phoenix Suns have, at most, two games left in what has been a thrilling, unpredictable, edgy and sometimes over-the-edge playoff series.


It resumes Thursday night in Los Angeles, with the Lakers holding a 3-2 lead, with their center Kwame Brown facing a possible sexual-assault charge and with the Suns trying to save their season without their best defender, Raja Bell.

Bell will serve a one-game suspension for hammering the Lakers star Kobe Bryant with a clothesline block in the fourth quarter of the Suns' 114-97 victory on Tuesday. The league suspended Bell for what it termed "unnecessary and excessive contact" on the play.

It was a disappointment for the Suns, who have complained that the Lakers are getting away with excessive force themselves. And it was an apparent disappointment for Bryant, who said all along that he hoped Bell would avoid suspension.

"I let him play, and," Bryant said, pausing for effect, "take on the challenge of the next game."
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PostPosted: Thu May 04, 2006 4:49 am    Post subject:

Bell regrets suspension, not foul

Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
May. 4, 2006 12:00 AM

Raja Bell the teammate regrets what he did Tuesday that has him suspended tonight.

Raja Bell the man can't have the same level of remorse, given his disdain for Kobe Bryant.

Bell was suspended for Game 6 for his clotheslined takedown on Bryant in Game 5, a retaliation move that puts his team's postseason fate in peril.

Bell's heated history with Bryant has roots in the 2001 NBA Finals but has grown hotter this season with physical duels on the court and stinging words off it. Bell's blood has been boiling all series because of how much he feels Bryant gets away with and a Flagrant Foul Penalty One he received a day after Game 3.

He felt a line was crossed in Game 5 when Bryant elbowed him in the cheek and Lakers coach Phil Jackson told him repeatedly, "You (expletive) deserved it" when Bell complained to officials near the Lakers bench. After Bell knocked Bryant to the ground with a left forearm to the neck, he walked toward the Lakers bench and pointed, saying something along the lines of, "There's your foul!"
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PostPosted: Thu May 04, 2006 4:51 am    Post subject:

What the Lakers are saying about Bell

Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
May. 4, 2006 01:07 AM

Here is what was said to Los Angeles reporters Wednesday after the Lakers heard about Bell's comments:

KOBE BRYANT
"You always want to compete against your opposition's best. I'd rather him not be suspended."

"I really don't think about him much. I don't think about the guy. I go out there and do my job and get my teammates involved and play within our system. That's why it's kind of funny to me."

"I remember the '80s Lakers getting creamed pretty good by the Celtics a couple times. It's just part of playoff basketball. Some games you'll be on top of your game, sometimes you won't be. The key is bouncing back."

"I've been playing like this all season, actually my whole career. This is the way I play. I get after guys defensively. Offensively, I make sure I hold my position. This is the way I've been taught how to play the game."

"Was I surprised? I don't think anybody expects to get clotheslined during a basketball game. But it's still fun."

"I retaliate and, what, miss a game? For this guy?"
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PostPosted: Thu May 04, 2006 4:52 am    Post subject:

What the Suns are saying about Bell

Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
May. 4, 2006 12:49 AM

Here are some of the comments made regarding Bell by other members of the Suns:
STEVE NASH
"I support him. He made a pretty harsh play but there's been a lot of that in the playoffs. It's impossible to expect people to make a bright decision every single time when we're playing a very heated battle and people from the outside are constantly telling us that we got to be more physical. It's tough and he's faced a lot this series. He's done a great job on Kobe. Kobe gets away with whatever he wants and that's got to frustrate and pile up on a guy."

"I know what kind of character Raja has. I know what type of person he is. The league is lucky to have people like him and our team certainly is. He might be our best player in this series so far."
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PostPosted: Thu May 04, 2006 4:54 am    Post subject:

Suns turn to Barbosa

Marion to help out with Bryant

Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
May. 4, 2006 12:00 AM

The Suns players' itineraries never listed an alternative.

Phoenix was going back to Los Angeles for Game 6 tonight all along.

The Suns are back in the series, even with a 3-2 hole, and their offense is back to clicking like a pinball machine. But Raja Bell won't be back on the court, which to many means the Suns-Lakers series won't be back Saturday in Phoenix for Game 7.

The Suns' spirit and confidence have been immune to doubt and controversy. Bell's suspension takes away another starter as Kurt Thomas and Amaré Stoudemire watch in suits. Phoenix heads confidently onto enemy hardwood despite a tightened seven-man rotation and a 23-year-old, wide-eyed Brazilian assigned to defend perhaps the planet's best player.

"We're all going to have to step up," Steve Nash said. "It's going to have to be a team performance. Raja has maybe been the best player on our team this series for the job he has done on Kobe (Bryant). It's going to hurt if we don't have him, but guys have to step up. If you want to be a great team, guys are always going to have to step up."
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PostPosted: Thu May 04, 2006 7:43 am    Post subject:

Kobe, Lakers try to knock out Suns at Staples Center
LAST UPDATE: 5/4/2006 9:50:36 AM

The Los Angeles Lakers attempt to eliminate the Phoenix Suns from the postseason tonight, as the teams battle at the Staples Center in Game 6 of their first-round series.
,The Lakers own a 3-2 lead in this best-of-seven series. If the Suns win tonight, Game 7 would be played on Saturday at US Airways Center.

Down 3-1, the Suns managed to stay alive with a win in Game 5. On Tuesday, Boris Diaw scored 25 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and dished out nine assists as No. 2 Phoenix staved off elimination by crushing the seventh-seeded Lakers, 114-97, at US Airways Center.

Steve Nash ended with 22 points and four assists in Game 5's victory for the Suns, while Shawn Marion contributed 21 points and nine boards. Tim Thomas netted 13 off the bench and Raja Bell, who was ejected from the contest in the fourth quarter for tossing Kobe Bryant to the floor, and Leandro Barbosa scored 11 apiece.

Bryant finished with a game-high 29 points, seven boards and five assists before being tossed from the contest for drawing his second technical foul with 3:11 to play in the contest.
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PostPosted: Thu May 04, 2006 7:48 am    Post subject:

Suns-Lakers Preview

GAME: Phoenix Suns at Los Angeles Lakers.

PLAYOFF SERIES: Western Conference first round; Lakers lead 3-2.

TIME: Thursday, 10:30 p.m. EDT.

The Phoenix Suns avoided first-round elimination for one game. It'll be tougher to do it again without defensive stopper Raja Bell.

With Bell suspended for Game 6, the Los Angeles Lakers look to eliminate the Suns in their best-of-seven series when the teams meet at Staples Center.

Bell lost his cool during the fourth quarter of Phoenix's 114-97 win in Game 5 on Tuesday, leveling Bryant on a drive to the basket by the Lakers superstar. Bell received his second technical of the game - he and Bryant were issued a double-technical in the first half - to get an automatic ejection.

``I have no respect for him,'' Bell said on Wednesday. ``I think he's a pompous, arrogant individual.

``When I get hit in the face multiple times, you've stepped across the line with me,'' he said. ``It's not basketball anymore. It was basketball for four games, then when he hit me in the face, that was the last straw last night. It still doesn't excuse me, but that's just the way I felt about it.''

Bryant, who was ejected four minutes later for arguing with referee Leon Wood, does not feel he did anything bad enough to provoke Bell's outburst.

``I'm not trying to go out there and elbow somebody, that's not the way I play,'' said Bryant, who had 29 points. ``If you get elbowed, you still have to keep your cool. I get elbowed all the time.''
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PostPosted: Thu May 04, 2006 7:50 am    Post subject:

Sun’s suspension changes series complexion
By Jerry Brown, Tribune
May 4, 2006
For all of the positives that came out of the Suns’ 114-97 victory Tuesday over the Lakers, one negative looms large heading into Game 6 tonight in Los Angeles: Raja Bell in street clothes is no match for Kobe Bryant. The Suns guard was suspended for one game by the NBA on Wednesday for his flagrant clothesline hit on Bryant late in Game 5, leaving Phoenix without its best — and perhaps only — perimeter defender tonight against the league’s reigning scoring champ.

So who gets the defensive assignment on Bryant? And do the Suns, who were already down to a sevenman rotation before Bell’s absence, have enough soldiers left to keep on fighting?

Suns coach Mike D’Antoni said guard Leandro Barbosa will get the first chance to cross swords with Bryant. Barbosa did a good job on Bryant in place of a foul-plagued Bell late in Game 1 but has a penchant for picking up fouls and will give away a lot of size and moxie to Bryant.

“He’s a really good player, but hopefully I am going to do a good job,” Barbosa said.
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PostPosted: Thu May 04, 2006 7:55 am    Post subject:

Raja’s perceived slight doesn’t excuse actions
By Scott Bordow, Tribune Columnist
May 4, 2006
Since the sport of boxing is in such sorry shape, here’s an idea:
A pay-per-view bout between Kobe Bryant and Raja Bell.
I’d pay the $49.95.
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Did you hear what Bell had to say about Bryant Wednesday, a day after his forearm said hello to Bryant’s Adam’s apple? Bell didn’t just fan the flames of their personal rivalry; he threw a gallon of kerosene on the fire.

“I have no respect for him. I think he’s a pompous and arrogant individual.”
“There don’t seem to be any boundaries or limitations to what he can do to me.”

“When I get hit in the face multiple times you crossed the line with me. That’s not basketball. It’s a personal thing.”
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PostPosted: Thu May 04, 2006 9:08 am    Post subject:

Kobe's no MJ, but he's close

CHICAGO — The common belief is Kobe Bryant would be title-less had he not played with Shaquille O'Neal. Did anyone ever stop to think that Shaq would be the Big Bridesmaid had he never suffered through his uneasy alliance with Kobe?

Bryant hasn't won since O'Neal bolted for Miami, true. But even though Shaq had Penny Hardaway pre-Kobe and now has Dwyane Wade post-Kobe, what has he ever won sans Kobe?

These are questions I've been asking myself since NBAer-turned-ESPN-yakker Mark Jackson recently opined that Bryant eventually will be considered a better basketball player than Michael Jordan.

Heretic! Infidel! Blasphemer! Ex-Knick and Ex-Pacer with a grudge!

Although I disagree with Jackson, I don't dismiss his opinion with a wave of the hand and a "what-an-idiot" chuckle. By virtue of Jordan's statistical superiority and his possession of twice as many championship rings, he rates the edge. But it's a slight edge, because Kobe Bryant is, has been and will continue to be worthy of the comparison.

If you had put Kobe in his prime — which is right now — on a Chicago team with Scottie Pippen and either Horace Grant or Dennis Rodman, I'm guessing the Bulls would have won the same six titles. Who knows? Maybe they'd have won eight because Bryant wouldn't have taken a two-year leave to play bush-league baseball.

And if you put Michael in his prime on the current L.A. team, where guys named Smush and Kwame play prominent roles, I'm guessing the Lakers would be fortunate to make the playoffs.

Yes, Kobe had Shaq during the Lakers' 2000-02 championship years, but who ruled when it mattered most?
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PostPosted: Thu May 04, 2006 9:11 am    Post subject:

Hostile maneuvers
Strategies, desire to determine Suns-Lakers series
Posted: Thursday May 4, 2006 10:26AM; Updated: Thursday May 4, 2006 12:54PM
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Lamar Odom not only has offered the Lakers a reliable second scorer against the Suns, he has also limited Shawn Marion's effectiveness.
Lamar Odom not only has offered the Lakers a reliable second scorer against the Suns, he has also limited Shawn Marion's effectiveness.
Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images


Whoever thought that the Los Angeles Lakers-Phoenix Suns playoff series would be the one steeped in testosterone and defined by trash talk? There has never been any love lost between the Lakers' Kobe Bryant and the Suns' Raja Bell -- the former pretends he barely knows the latter, while the latter expresses outright contempt for the former as a human being -- but, going into the playoffs, these were two teams defined more by finesse than ferocity.

But the series has turned into old-fashioned playoff ball, with flying bodies, occasional elbows and plenty of on-court and off-court lip-flapping. That makes Thursday night's Game 6 in L.A. definitely-must-see TV, though Bell, suspended for grabbing Bryant around the neck in the fourth quarter of Game 5, will not be seen.
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PostPosted: Thu May 04, 2006 5:06 pm    Post subject:

Lakers, Heat, Nets can advance to second round
May 4, 2006

BRISTOL, Connecticut (Ticker) - Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers are one win away from a meeting with the Los Angeles Clippers in the second round of the NBA playoffs.

The seventh-seeded Lakers return home to the Staples Center on Thursday with a chance to eliminate the Phoenix Suns in Game Six of their first-round Western Conference series.

The second-seeded Miami Heat and third-seeded New Jersey Nets are on a collision course to meet in the Eastern Conference semifinals. But first they must win road games on Thursday to clinch their first-round series.

The Lakers won three straight games to take a 3-1 lead in their series, but the second-seeded Suns stayed alive with a 114-97 home win on Tuesday. However, in the fourth quarter of that game Raja Bell clotheslined Bryant to the floor as the Lakers' superstar guard was driving to the basket. Bell was ejected and suspended for Game Six as well.

Bell and Bryant drew double technicals in the second quarter when they locked arms and exchanged words. Before Bell clotheslined Bryant in the fourth quarter, he took an elbow to the head.

"I don't hate him but I don't respect him," Bell said of Bryant. "I think he's a pompous, arrogant individual. When I get hit across the face multiple times, you've stepped across the line with me."
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PostPosted: Thu May 04, 2006 5:14 pm    Post subject:

Lakers try to stay relaxed for Game 6 vs. Suns
Phoenix will be without Bell, but that doesn't concern Kobe & Co.
Image: Bell
Khampha Bouaphanh / AP
Phoenix's Raja Bell fouls Los Angeles' Kobe Bryant at the end of the Suns' Game 5 win.

Updated: 7:30 p.m. ET May 4, 2006

LOS ANGELES - Kobe Bryant pointed to his slightly soiled Lakers’ T-shirt as he finished a session with reporters, smiled and said: “There’s my baby-girl throw-up. I’m supposed to be worried about Raja Bell?”

The implication, of course, was the importance of Bryant’s second daughter, Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant, born Monday, and the insignificance of Bell, the Phoenix guard who slammed Bryant to the floor Tuesday night.

Bryant and his teammates won’t have to worry about Bell in Game 6 on Thursday night when they try to eliminate the Suns from the first-round Western Conference playoff series.
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PostPosted: Thu May 04, 2006 5:19 pm    Post subject:

Lakers look for clincher at home
JOHN NADEL
Associated Press
Phoenix Suns' Raja Bell, rear, commits a technical foul on Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant in the second half of Game 5 in Phoenix, Wednesday, May 2, 2006.
KHAMPHA BOUAPHANH, AP
Phoenix Suns' Raja Bell, rear, commits a technical foul on Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant in the second half of Game 5 in Phoenix, Wednesday, May 2, 2006.

* Bell, Bryant trade verbal barbs the day after takedown
* Suns' Bell says he has no respect for `pompous' Kobe Bryant
* Scott Bordow | Raja Bell's hard foul could spoil Suns' momentum

LOS ANGELES - Kobe Bryant pointed to his slightly soiled Lakers' T-shirt as he finished a session with reporters, smiled and said: "There's my baby-girl throw-up. I'm supposed to be worried about Raja Bell?"

The implication, of course, was the importance of Bryant's second daughter, Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant, born Monday, and the insignificance of Bell, the Phoenix guard who slammed Bryant to the floor Tuesday night.

Bryant and his teammates won't have to worry about Bell in Game 6 on Thursday night when they try to eliminate the Suns from the first-round Western Conference playoff series.

On Wednesday, the NBA suspended Phoenix's primary defender against Bryant for his actions with 7 1/2 minutes left in a game the Suns had well in hand. Phoenix wound up winning 114-97 to cut the Lakers' lead to 3-2 in the best-of-seven series.
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PostPosted: Thu May 04, 2006 5:23 pm    Post subject:

The Lakers Don't Have to Worry About Raja Bell


LOS ANGELES, May 4, 2006 - Kobe Bryant and his teammates won't have to worry about Bell in Game 6 on Thursday night when they try to eliminate the Suns from the first-round Western Conference playoff series.
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On Wednesday, the NBA suspended Phoenix's primary defender against Bryant for his actions with 7½ minutes left in a game the Suns had well in hand. Phoenix wound up winning 114-97 to cut the Lakers' lead to 3-2 in the best-of-seven series.

In a brief news release, the NBA said Bell was suspended one game for "excessive and unnecessary contact."

The Lakers have won eight straight at Staples Center, including Games 3 and 4 of this series, and 12 of 13.

"It should be a hell of a battle," Bryant said.

"It's always good to play at home," Lamar Odom said. "There's no pressure on us. It's the second seed (Phoenix) vs. the seventh seed (the Lakers)."
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PostPosted: Thu May 04, 2006 5:27 pm    Post subject:

Will it be a fight to the finish?
Lakers try to put away Suns in hotly contested series
BY ROSS SILER, Staff Writer

EL SEGUNDO - There might not be a more ironic twist in these NBA playoffs than Phoenix guard Raja Bell complaining Wednesday about barely being able to open his jaw after taking so many Kobe Bryant elbows in this first-round series.

It didn't stop Bell, after all, from unloading on Bryant and Lakers coach Phil Jackson one day after the Phoenix guard was ejected in the fourth quarter of Game 5 for his vicious clothesline takedown of Bryant.

Bell was suspended by the NBA for tonight's Game 6 at Staples Center, but not before calling out Bryant like no player has this season.

"I don't hate him but I have no respect for him," Bell told reporters in Phoenix, "because I think he's a pompous, arrogant individual.

"I think a lot of people let him get away with a lot of things and he feels like he's supposed to get away with things because of who he is, and I don't agree with that."

Told of Bell's comments, Bryant offered a withering response.

"Maybe he wasn't hugged enough as a kid," Bryant said.
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PostPosted: Thu May 04, 2006 5:30 pm    Post subject:

Bell limited to verbal attack
The Suns guard is suspended for his flagrant foul on Bryant, whom he calls 'arrogant.'

By KEVIN DING
The Orange County Register


Ouch: Raja Bell says his cheeks are bruised and he can barely open his jaw after being repeatedly elbowed by Kobe Bryant.

KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

EL SEGUNDO – If the Phoenix Suns go down tonight, Raja Bell won't be there to go down swinging.

The NBA issued Bell a one-game suspension Wednesday for his flagrant foul of Kobe Bryant in Game 5, leaving Phoenix vulnerable to elimination in Game 6 tonight with the Lakers.

So Bell, the Suns' top defender, had to settle for getting in some verbal shots at Bryant.

"I have no respect for him. I think he's a pompous, arrogant individual," Bell told reporters in Phoenix on Wednesday. "I think a lot of people let him get away with things, and he feels like he's supposed to get away with them, and I don't agree with that."

Bell also took issue with Bryant saying after Game 5 that he hasn't been throwing intentional elbows and "if you get elbowed, you still have to keep your cool." Said Bell: "You're going to keep hitting me in my face and then talking like you're not doing it on purpose? There's a reason both my cheeks are bruised right now and I can barely open my jaw, all right? Every time you stick your butt out and try to hit me in my genitals, you're doing it on purpose. That's something you don't do inadvertently. And it was enough."
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PostPosted: Thu May 04, 2006 5:32 pm    Post subject:

Suns' Bell delivers parting shots

LAKERS: After being suspended for tonight's Game 6, he says he has no respect for Kobe.

12:39 AM PDT on Thursday, May 4, 2006

By BRODERICK TURNER
The Press-Enterprise

EL SEGUNDO - On a day when it was time to reflect and ease the tension that erupted into more than physical play, Raja Bell instead incited a war of words that Kobe Bryant was more than happy to exchange.

Bell was suspended by the NBA on Wednesday for unnecessary and excessive contact with Bryant during Game 5 Tuesday night of the Western Conference best-of-seven first-round playoffs series. Bell won't be with the Phoenix Suns for Game 6 tonight at Staples Center. The Lakers lead the series, 3-2, and can close out with a victory.

Bell clotheslined Bryant in the fourth quarter of Tuesday night's game, was assessed a flagrant foul penalty II and was ejected from the game. It was his second technical.

Bell was unable to let things go between him and Bryant.

"I don't hate him, but I have no respect for him," Bell told TNT reporter David Aldridge Wednesday at the Suns practice. "I think he's a pompous, arrogant individual. I think a lot of people let him get away with a lot of things, and he feels like he's supposed to get away with things because of who he is, and I don't approve of that."

Bryant was told of Bell's comments at Lakers practice.

"Does he know me? Do I know this guy?" Bryant said. "I don't know this guy. I might have said one word to this guy. I don't know this kid. I think he overreacts to stuff. I don't know him. I don't think about him ... I don't need to know this kid. I don't want to.

"We go out there, and we play the game, and we leave it at that. Maybe he wasn't hugged enough as a kid. I look at him a little bit, and he gets a little insecure about something."
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PostPosted: Thu May 04, 2006 5:35 pm    Post subject:

Bell blasts Bryant as 'pompous, arrogant'

Raja Bell's takedown of Kobe Bryant earned him a one-game suspension from the NBA.

By Greg Boeck, USA TODAY
PHOENIX — The NBA suspended Raja Bell one game without pay Wednesday for "unnecessary and excessive contact" with Kobe Bryant in what has turned into a heated Western Conference first-round playoff series between the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers.

But even before learning he would miss Game 6 in Los Angeles tonight, the Suns defensive specialist went on the offensive, attacking Bryant verbally a day after physically throwing him to the court with 7:33 left in the fourth quarter of a 114-97 Suns victory.

"I don't hate him, but I don't respect him," Bell said of Bryant after practice. "I think he's a pompous, arrogant individual. When I get hit in the face multiple times, you've stepped across the line with me. That's not basketball anymore. When he hit me in the face, it was the last straw."

Bell said that doesn't excuse his behavior, which puts the Suns in jeopardy going into the Staples Center down 3-2 in the series. But, he added, "there doesn't seem to be any boundaries for what he's allowed to do to me."
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Phil
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PostPosted: Thu May 04, 2006 5:37 pm    Post subject:

Mike Finger: Bryant's enigmatic brilliance makes for confusing times

Web Posted: 05/04/2006 12:00 AM CDT


San Antonio Express-News

Finger At 4:57 a.m. EDT on Monday, Shaquille O'Neal's wife gave birth to a girl in a South Florida hospital. Six minutes later, Kobe Bryant's daughter was born on the West Coast.

That virtually no one views the timing of these events as a mere coincidence is a testament to Bryant, as well as his status as the most fascinatingly enigmatic superstar of our time.

This, more than anything else, sums up how the nation feels about the Los Angeles Lakers guard: Not only do we believe he's petty enough to take his grudges and one-upsmanship into Lamaze class and the delivery room, we also believe he's good enough to pull it off.

So you're not sure what to make of Bryant and his on-the-court exploits, which are viewed alternately as magnificent and selfish? Or an off-the-court persona that generally makes him seem smart and engaging, but also has landed him in a front-office power struggle and a Colorado courtroom?

Join the club.
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