The Atlanta Hawks beat the Los Angeles Lakers Wednesday night and yet the focus was of course on Dahntay Jones’ careless defensive play on Kobe Bryant, which left Kobe with a left ankle sprain and out “indefinitely.” The no-call foul heard around the NBA, which in a statement the NBA admitted should have been two free throws, has been the topic of discussion for the past 36 hours.
Kobe has been very vocal about the play, calling it “dangerous” on his Twitter account and comparing it to the Jalen Rose incident in the 2000 NBA Finals. On The Dan Patrick Show this morning, Jones was vocal about it, too, and there were no apologies.
Dahntay on the play: “I tried to make the best basketball play possible…. I tried to get close enough to contest the shot”
— Lakers Nation (@LakersNation) March 15, 2013
Dahntay Jones on the foul “the leg kick creates all the contact” — Lakers Nation (@LakersNation) March 15, 2013
Jones is maintaining that Kobe’s leg kick on the fadeaway created the contact that made Bryant off-balance and resulted in an ankle sprain. It’s an unwritten rule in the NBA that defenders give shooters space to land, even Jalen Rose admitted his incident with Kobe in the 2000 NBA Finals was intentional. It seems like Jones understood the etiquette but just doesn’t think he broke it.
DP asks what’s the etiquette? Dahntay “to not walk under”
— Lakers Nation (@LakersNation) March 15, 2013
—- See Kobe Bryant through the years in photos! —-
It may be clear to most of us that Jones did indeed walk under Kobe, but he sure doesn’t think so. As a matter of fact, Jones also said that the NBA would not have issued a statement if it weren’t Kobe Bryant, according to Paul Pabst, producer of The Dan Patrick Show.
“I personally don’t think so, no…if this were anyone but Kobe.”-Hawks Dahntay Jones on if the NBA issues a statement if it wasn’t Kobe.
— Paul Pabst (@PaulPabst) March 15, 2013
Jalen Rose did not publicly admit his intention to injure Kobe Bryant back in 2000 until just last year. I wonder if it will take 12 years for Dahntay Jones to reassess his statements. One thing’s for sure, Kobe did it to Jalen and he’ll do it to Dahntay – revenge. Jones will want to watch his back when he goes up against Kobe next year.
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VIDEO: Dahntay Jones Defensive Play On Kobe – Dirty Or Not? You Tell Us.
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