Posted at 10:52 a.m., Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Lakers' Bryant suspended for hitting player
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Kobe Bryant was suspended one game by the NBA today for striking a player in the face, his second penalty for that action in a little more than a month.The most recent incident came with 58 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter of the Lakers' 117-107 double-overtime loss to Minnesota on Tuesday night, when Bryant struck the Timberwolves' Marko Jaric after taking a shot.
The play was similar to one that drew Bryant a suspension late in January, when he hit San Antonio's Manu Ginobili in the face after taking a shot. NBA executive vice president Stu Jackson determined that play to have been an unnatural basketball action and suspended Bryant from a game at New York.
Bryant, second in the NBA with 29.2 points per game, will miss the Lakers' game at Milwaukee tonight.
