Charles and Kobe making fun of Raja.

[jbeecham]

I remember when coaches on the other team would get technicals for taunting players like that.....oh and the profanity...

 

[CaptainInsano]

It's bizarre watching Chuck say how he should have just bet $1000 a hand and not $25K a hand, he'd have only lost 50-100K instead of millions.

Mind. Boggling.

Actually it is downright disgusting. These guys throwing around millions of dollars like nerf balls on stupid gambling while how many people are poor/starving here and overseas?

The world is a wonderful place.

 

[elindholm]

Gambling is entertainment. Do you spend money on entertainment that could instead feed starving children overseas? Almost everyone does. Next time you get ready to buy a television, are you going to ask yourself how many cups of rice in Africa that money could be used for?

I agree it's pretty squeamish moral territory, but Barkley is no different from the rest of us. He spends more because he has more.

 

[Nash]

Charles and Kobe laugh..of all people?

It is not the worst thng in the world to be laughed at by a sexual predator and a degenerate gambler. Consider the sources.

I just wish Shaq had giving Kobe the beating he deserved before he left the Lakers.

I think the above reply frpm Wally pretty much sums it all up and drives home the emotions of the Suns fans and the wishes of every NBA fan when Shaq was forced out.
Shaq shouldv'e clotheslined Kobe and sent him straight into a coma where all he could do was a repetetive 'brush off the shoulder'.

As for Barkley, he's a pretty pompous big headed guy as well. Just watch every time Kenny latches on to one of Charles' blunders (like repeatedly saying 'Kobe Jackson ' while referring to Phil and similar crap), he acts like he doesn't hear it and goes on with what he's saying with an all-serious look on his face. The rules are the exact opposite when Charles catches Kenny messing up and he just won't stop pulling his leg for the rest of the session. That's because Kenny can take a joke on himself and chill.

Charles post game 4 remark:"My Phoenix Suns, y’all can’t be letting these Lakers punk y’all and that’s what you are doing. They have no respect for your manhood; they knock you down every play and stand over you. You can’t let them stand over you, you have to hit them!”
And when Raja did just that in Game 5, he laughs at that! Hypocrite!

"Hafey" - don't disillusion yourself by thinking Kobe and Charles reside in the stratosphere and can't understand Raja's reason for doing that. They are gifted ball players. Thats it. Dont put them alongside the Pope by making such statements. If anything, Bell is a clean family man.
Kobe - rapist/wife-cheater
Barkley - mr.mugshot, self confessed gambler.
both victims of the basest evils..

Raja spoke in a very forthright manner to the press without putting on any airs. And pleaaaaaaaaaaseeeee! don't tell me you guys fell for Kobe's attempt at acting like this incident meant nothing to him ! he was "trying way tooo hard" to sound cool, acting like he wasn't bothered by Bell. It looked plain foolish.
An ESPN commentator summed it up best after Kobe's statement clip was played on Sportscenter - "Aaawkward...." followed by a chuckle from his commentatin partner.

 

[Mainstreet]

I know I'm dreaming, but I'd like to have my dream for a couple of more hours at least.

With all the alleged one upmanship Kobe and Phil Jackson have parlayed into the one game suspension of Raja Bell, let's flip the coin. Maybe Raja may not play the game tonight but has won the battle.

Suppose Raja really did send a message to the referees that the game needs to be called exactly as played (without favoritism for Kobe and the rest of the Lakers) and this message has been conveyed down by the league office as well.

Perhaps this could then put the Suns into a very interesting position of having a closely called game which just might benefit Phoenix without all the perks the Laker team is used to getting.

Maybe Kobe even goes into a scoring explosion but leaves his teammates out of the equation and the Suns win a shootout.

Perhaps Raja wins afterall.

Sure this is a long shot... but an interesting thought nevertheless.

 

[gdiddy]

You don't have to look inside the context of this series to discover the absurdity of the NBA's judgment when it comes to suspending certain players.

Even before the Raja Bell incident, you had guys like Udonis Haslem get suspended for throwing a mouthpiece (which I guess is now a dangerous weapon), James Posey for shoulder-bumping Kirk Heinrich, and Ron Artest for throwing an elbow.

In light of all that, if the NB(s)A was consistent with their suspensions, they would have issued the same suspensions to guys like Walton and Brown, and dare I say Bryant for almost instigating a fight in Game 3 which caused Diaw to pick up a technical on Kobe's behalf.

That's why as a fan, I'm not apologetic for what Bell did. If the series was clean from the beginning, then yeah I can imagine that what Bell did was uncalled for in the context of everything that has happened.

Face it, you don't see much of this crap if the series were Phoenix vs. Dallas. The Lakers, just like the Nuggest, consist of a bunch of thugs. You can't look back at the regular season and say that Phoenix played this physical. In fact, the criticism was that they don't play as physical.

Most people seem to forget that the Suns play outside the normal game of basketball. They're not into the half-court bullying, they're not a physical team. This is a team that wants to score, and score a lot. This is a team that doesn't like to waste time when it has possession of the ball. You can't, nor do you want, to be physical when playing that style. And it is that style that many fans admire because frankly the game of basketball is nothing more than a sport. It's not showdown of thugs asserting their dominance over one another.

 

[D-Dogg]

I think the above reply frpm Wally pretty much sums it all up and drives home the emotions of the Suns fans and the wishes of every NBA fan when Shaq was forced out.
Shaq shouldv'e clotheslined Kobe and sent him straight into a coma where all he could do was a repetetive 'brush off the shoulder'.

As for Barkley, he's a pretty pompous big headed guy as well. Just watch every time Kenny latches on to one of Charles' blunders (like repeatedly saying 'Kobe Jackson ' while referring to Phil and similar crap), he acts like he doesn't hear it and goes on with what he's saying with an all-serious look on his face. The rules are the exact opposite when Charles catches Kenny messing up and he just won't stop pulling his leg for the rest of the session. That's because Kenny can take a joke on himself and chill.

Charles post game 4 remark:"My Phoenix Suns, y’all can’t be letting these Lakers punk y’all and that’s what you are doing. They have no respect for your manhood; they knock you down every play and stand over you. You can’t let them stand over you, you have to hit them!”
And when Raja did just that in Game 5, he laughs at that! Hypocrite!

"Hafey" - don't disillusion yourself by thinking Kobe and Charles reside in the stratosphere and can't understand Raja's reason for doing that. They are gifted ball players. Thats it. Dont put them alongside the Pope by making such statements. If anything, Bell is a clean family man.
Kobe - rapist/wife-cheater
Barkley - mr.mugshot, self confessed gambler.
both victims of the basest evils..

Raja spoke in a very forthright manner to the press without putting on any airs. And pleaaaaaaaaaaseeeee! don't tell me you guys fell for Kobe's attempt at acting like this incident meant nothing to him ! he was "trying way tooo hard" to sound cool, acting like he wasn't bothered by Bell. It looked plain foolish.
An ESPN commentator summed it up best after Kobe's statement clip was played on Sportscenter - "Aaawkward...." followed by a chuckle from his commentatin partner.

Hugs for everybody!

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Even before the Raja Bell incident, you had guys like Udonis Haslem get suspended for throwing a mouthpiece (which I guess is now a dangerous weapon), James Posey for shoulder-bumping Kirk Heinrich, and Ron Artest for throwing an elbow.

Tell me you're joking. If you throw anything at the ref you should be suspended. I'm sure the loogie Roberto Alomar spat at the umpire didn't have hurt at all, you think that didn't deserve a suspension?