Kobe Bryant and Ron Artest got real physical with each other in Game 2. (NBAE/GETTY IMAGES)
The Los Angeles Lakers are going a little overboard in trying to shed their “soft” reputation. Against the Houston Rockets in Game 2, the Lakers lay down some serious smack talk during the game and smacked the Rockets with two vicious elbows. Both were calculated and delivered with malice.
In the fourth quarter of a hotly contested and very chippy game, Kobe Bryant sent a message to Ron Artest by swinging an elbow to Artest’s throat. It was an irony or ironies. The bully getting bullied. Ron-Ron did not like that one bit, as he stormed right to Kobe’s face to let him know about it. Artest was ejected, but Kobe brushed off the confrontation. When Bryant was asked about the incident during the postgame news conference, he said nothing. Bryant claimed he did not hear Artest. C’mon, Kobe! The guy was right in your ear. Stop playing the Obi-Wan card and just let the whole world know about your Darth Vader side.
But the biggest bow of the night was delivered by mild-mannered Derek Fisher. Just for the record, I like Derek Fisher. I think he is one of the most well-respected players in the league (he’s the president of the players’ union!) and is one of the classiest people you will ever meet. That’s why it was a total shock to me that D-Fish went to the bully tactic to deliver his message.
To recap what happened, Fisher sized up Houston forward Luis Scola and leveled him with a body check that lifted Scola off his feet and onto the floor. Fisher was assessed a flagrant 2 foul and was ejected. He tried to defend his actions, but he’s not going to convince too many people that it was just a hard, playoff foul. It was more than just a playoff foul. He wanted to hurt Scola to send the message to the Rockets forward, and the rest of the Rockets big men, that the Lakers guards are growing tired of all the illegal moving screens they have been setting for the first two games of the heated series.
Scola had been the target of many Lakers, including Lamar Odom, Sasha Vujacic and even Luke Walton, who rarely gets emotionally involved. Scola must have been really doing something shady to get almost half of the Lakers roster turn against him. Whatever it was, Fisher was going to let him feel it.
As much as I like good hard fouls and physical play in the postseason, I think the Lakers are crossing the line with some of their actions. It’s totally out of character for them. It’s one thing to play tough, it’s another to act tough. The Lakers are not what you call a “tough” team. They are a finese team. It is their greatest strength and their greatest weakness. Kobe is the only pitbull on their squad. The rest of them are puppies. The Lakers should be above all this nonsense, and should just focus on playing basketball instead of acting like a bunch of wanna-be mixed martial artists.
Thank you for posting this article about just how dirty the Lakers are. Just to reiterate, Fisher SAW AND KNEW Scola was coming and he knew exactly what he was doing. There was nothing ‘accidental’ about it and he deserves to be suspended for game 3. As for Kobe’s elbow to Artest’s throat, that was just plain dirty, but I wouldn’t say suspension worthy. And is it just me or is anyone else getting sick of Kobe’s cocky facade of a humble player? Talking trash to a physical player like Ron Artest is one thing, but taunting one of the nicest and most intelligent players in the NBA, Shane Battier, demonstrates to the entire world just how arrogant and childish you really are. You want to see genuine humility and respect for the game and fans? Try LeBron’s emotional MVP reception during his Game 1. He truly appreciates how lucky he is to be where he is right now.
Aside from Ron Artest, I just want to say that despite Los Angeles’ blatantly dirty performance, the Rockets have been taking it all in stride. It’s not to say that there’s no frustration at all. Von Wafer’s words with Adelman and Artest’s reaction to Kobe’s elbow proves that there is. But have the Rocket’s retaliated with their own dirty plays, an eye for an eye if you will? If they have, they must be masters of concealment because it hasn’t been caught by anyone yet. Despite LA’s flagrant fouls, despite LA’s trash talking, despite LA’s refs-not-looking dirty plays, the Rockets have managed to come out and be the bigger man. Sure, they could bitch and whine and complain till the cows come home (but I’ve already taken the liberty to do that for them) or they can just keep doing what they’ve been doing: suck it up and play ball. The Rockets may have been outscored and outplayed in Game 2 but the Laker’s were clearly outclassed.
yeah the lakers played dirty second game…..what scared of a lil competition LA…. just made me lose respect for them …rockets play fair and square……. GO ROCKETS WE GONNA WIN IT THIS FRIDAY IN HOUSTON……
The Lakers are a bunch of whiners. Kobe’s the dirtiest player in the NBA and gets away with murder (or at the very least, rape). Just google or look in youtube, it’s well documented.
The Lakers can’t handle Houston’s defense and so they have to resort to bully tactics which is not out of character for them, it is Lakers-style ball. SHAME on senile Joey Crawford for going along with this and for the NBA for condoning this type of behavior in exchange for ratings.
I’m proud that my hometeam, the Rockets, show once again why they are the CLASSIEST team in the NBA.
Lakers, finesse? Pffffftttttt! That’s like saying the
Oh and Kobe’s no pittbull… he’s a Doberman, look at that face only a mother (or a gold digging wife) could love.
Go Rox!
What a pile of crap this is. The Lakers have more talent, man for man, than the Rockets or the Nuggets combined. Yet both of those teams, largely thru the bully-boy, oaf-like tactics of people like Artest (can you believe this idiot actually ran into the stands and attacked a fan whom he thought had doused him with soda?), gave the Lakers a fight.
Give it up, people. This is the L.A. Lakers you are bad-mouthing. Read the history of the franchise. It makes the rest of you look like a group of whining snot-nosed losers… which, apparently, you are.
You just diminished your whole point with your argument. The Lakers are, far and away, the more talented and more disciplined team in the entire NBA, which makes it unnecessary to use dirty tactics to win a game. The Lakers should be above all that. They are the model franchise and let their play on the court speak for itself. It’s not bad-mouthing when you are stating facts.
Trivia – the Lakers hold the record for the longest consecutive winning streak in US professional team sports. Additionally it is an NBA record. What is that number? (33)