Kobe out indefinitely, calls Jones dirty

For those who have somehow missed it, Kobe's out definitely with an ankle injury following the loss to the Hawks.

After crumpling to the court with a severely sprained left ankle that Kobe Bryant called his worst in the past 13 seasons, the Los Angeles Lakers' star guard could miss key games in the stretch run to make the playoffs.

The Lakers are the eighth seed in the Western Conference, and fighting to qualify for the postseason. The loss of Bryant from the lineup – or perhaps even him diminished and playing with pain – could seriously imperil the Lakers' chances.

The Lakers termed Bryant as "out indefinitely."

In the final moments of the Lakers' 96-92 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night, Bryant missed a fadeaway baseline jumper and landed on the foot of Hawks defender Dahntay Jones. After X-rays came back negative on his ankle, Bryant was livid with what he believed had been a "dirty and dangerous" play on the part of Jones.

In an email to Yahoo! Sports late Wednesday night, Bryant said that Jones "threw his hip and lower body into mine on the shot. That's a foul with 100 percent certainty. Dirty and dangerous play. Doesn't belong in the game."

Bryant believed Jones slid his foot underneath him on the shot, leaving him vulnerable on the landing. After Bryant had brought the Lakers within 93-92 with a 3-pointer with 18.2 seconds left, he missed an 18-foot shot with 3.9 seconds left that could've tied the game.

On his personal Twitter account, Jones tweeted, "…Tape doesn't lie. Ankle was turned on the floor after the leg kick out that knocked him off balance. I would never try to hurt the man."

Obviously a huge blow to the Lakers, though "indefinitely" may be misleading. It could be they simply don't want to put a timeframe on it just yet and he's only looking at missing a couple of weeks, or perhaps even a few games. Nevertheless, it comes at a bad time for the Lakers, who were just starting to turn things around before the loss to the Hawks.

As far as the play being dirty...well, here's the video.

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I'm not sure about it being dirty myself, I've certainly seen more openly dirty plays in years gone by. Kobe also kicks his leg out on the fadeaway and that initiates some contact, with Jones leaping with him to contest the fadeaway, so I'm not sure it should've been free throws as some people have asserted. At the very least, I wouldn't put it on the same level as some of Bruce Bowen's greatest hits.

barely any contact made, he just did this thing called defense and got up in his personal space. he didn't stick his foot out extensively on purpose, he didnt push him.....just a butt hurt superstar wanting all the time in the world to do his shot.

Agreed.

Probably could have gotten a call from it, but I think it should be classified as shit happens. I don't think Jones had any malicious intentions and actually defended the shot pretty well. As for him walking under Kobe, he was defending a fadeaway shot, so I imagine it could have been momentum that made him do that.

EDIT:

phpBB [video]

I personally think that's a dirtier play. But maybe I'm just a Nuggets fan.

I watched this game live and TV didn't really catch Kobe holding his ankle in pain at anytime after the play. And soon after he was able to play and walk off the court as if nothing was hurting as the game was decided. So I don't think he's going to miss that many games but considering "his worst in the past 13 seasons", perhaps it's more serious than how it looked on TV(maybe swelling up?).

The loss came against shorthanded Hawks who were relying on Horford and Harris most of night(Josh Smith, Teague, Pachulia were out I believe). Just embarrassing. But it's somewhat amazing how close they came even when one of your team took 33 shots on 33% to score 31 points with 5 turnovers. That wouldn't happen too often with other teams relying on their superstars.

It's a Bruce Bowen move. It may not look dirty but it is. Jones should be suspended by David Stern or even banned from the NBA!

barely any contact made, he just did this thing called defense and got up in his personal space. he didn't stick his foot out extensively on purpose, he didnt push him.....just a butt hurt superstar wanting all the time in the world to do his shot.

ARE YOU BLIND?! I'm guessing you got used to Paul Pierce faking injuries too much that you think a legit dirty play is just normal.

I personally think that's a dirtier play. But maybe I'm just a Nuggets fan.

No it's not.
Kobe clearly went after the ball but the swipe happens to be short or too close and his elbow/arm came into contact with Faried's head.

Kobe did go for the ball on the second video.

As for the foot going under, that's what you get when you fadeaway. The only way to defend that shot ours get as close as possible and stretch out.

On another note, Kobe should have known better and went to the basket because he had Jones beat and could have gotten to the line.

hmm...it just looks like Kobe falling and landed his foot the wrong way. Jones just did a regular good defense IMO. nothing more here, it's just big news because it's "Kobe".

Kobe getting day of treatment on sprained ankle

Kobe Bryant says Dahntay Jones' dangerous defense left him with a sprained left ankle, and the NBA agreed.

Now, the Los Angeles Lakers are hoping the injury doesn't keep their star away from a playoff push for long.

Bryant spent Thursday getting several hours of treatment on what he called the worst sprained ankle of his 17 NBA seasons, hoping to be healthy for Friday's game at Indiana.

Although the Lakers offered no update on his condition after saying Bryant was out ''indefinitely,'' the NBA acknowledged Jones should have been called for a foul on the play that left Bryant crumpled on the court in Atlanta.

The Pacers don't believe it. They still think Kobe is likely to suit up for their game. LoL

And they were right. He didn't do a whole lot in his brief appearance, but the Lakers still won.

Id say Jones is more naughty than he is dirty.

Not dirty at all. Just kobe crying because the league didnt give him a call until after the game

Given Kobe's attempt to play through the injury against Indiana and their subsequent victory with him sitting the rest of the game out, it'll be interesting to see if he does take a couple of games off. The next few games are very winnable even without him, two of them coming at home and all three against teams well under .500, so it would be a perfect opportunity for him to rest his ankle. While one might commend his competitiveness and bravado for playing through the injury, he's arguably more of a hindrance out there while he's hobbled and the long term ramifications of making the injury worse by refusing to rest it won't do the Lakers any favours.