Jackson fined $50K for "witch hunt" remarks.

Jackson fined $50K for "witch hunt" remarks.

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">NEW YORK -- The Los Angeles Lakers and Phil Jackson were fined $50,000 apiece by the NBA on Thursday after the coach said the league was conducting a "witch hunt" against Kobe Bryant.

Bryant has recently received two one-game suspensions this season for striking players in the face after taking a shot. The league retroactively assessed Bryant with a flagrant foul for an elbow to Philadelphia's Kyle Korver last week, a play that didn't even draw a foul when it happened.

NBA executive vice president Stu Jackson said the fine was for Jackson's "public criticisms of the NBA."

Bryant, speaking in Denver before the fine was levied, said he appreciated Jackson standing up for him.

"He was defending his player," Bryant said at a shootaround before a game against the Nuggets.

Jackson was upset with the NBA's actions.

"It shouldn't even have been a flagrant 1," Jackson said Tuesday. "That's crazy. That's a vendetta. They have a witch hunt going on. It's nuts. Guys riding somebody. Everybody does that in this league. It's just becoming a witch hunt now."

Bryant said the suspensions won't change his shooting style. He's second in the league in scoring behind Denver's Carmelo Anthony.

"You have to be careful about how you play the game," he said. "Go out there and play hard and do the best you can. Hopefully you don't get suspended or anything like that."

Asked if the league was overreacting, Bryant said: "I don't really want to get into it too much. You can't say anything about it without saying something inflammatory. I'd rather leave it alone and focus on the game."

Jackson had been fined $25,000 in November for critical remarks. He said Wednesday he wasn't afraid of his comments leading to another fine.

Jackson didn't speak to the media after the shootaround in Denver.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press

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But why were the lakers fined?

 

Fining the organization makes as much sense as wearing golf spikes to a pickup game of basketball.

 

What's the point of fining someone $50k when they make $10mil? Anytime the league gets criticized, they fine. It's really irrelevant and pointless to me, because no matter how much the fine is and how much they dish them out, people always criticize. I hope the league feels better though after doing this.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Moo2K4 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">What's the point of fining someone $50k when they make $10mil? Anytime the league gets criticized, they fine. It's really irrelevant and pointless to me, because no matter how much the fine is and how much they dish them out, people always criticize. I hope the league feels better though after doing this.</div>

yeah people always will but think about all the people that would but then think about the fine and they end up not saying anything. trust me it helps calm the amount of criticizing down although it will never completely stop it.