duncan228
11-06-2008, 07:13 PM
Kobe Bryant: king of technical fouls (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2008/11/kobe-bryant-tec.html)
-Barry Stavro
Our local hoops superstar, now in his 13th NBA season, has led the league in numerous statistical categories: scoring average, total points, free throws made, free throw attempts, field goals made, field goal attempts and games played. Then last season Kobe Bryant topped every player in tantrums, oops, I mean technical fouls.
Bryant notched 15 T's during the 82-game regular season, topping Baron Davis' 13, an unusually quiet Rasheed Wallace with 12, followed by half a dozen players with 11 each, including Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul. As Bryant piled up technicals last spring, and collected $22,500 in fines from the league, his coach Phil Jackson worried his star would be automatically suspended for a game if he reached 16. But Bryant quieted down and never hit that magic number. Then, with a clean slate in the playoffs, Bryant got hit with three more technicals during the Lakers' playoff run to the NBA Finals.
Bryant might have finally won the technical foul title last season, but the truth is he's been among the most penalized players for years. In the last five seasons, Detroit's Wallace set the true gold standard for technicals by amassing 97 -- including a whopping 27 T's during the 2004-05 season -- followed by Bryant with 65 in that period. Other technical foul specialists include the Clippers' Davis, who amassed 57 during the last five campaigns, plus the notably intense Kevin Garnett with 53, and Phoenix's Raja Bell with 50.
So the next time you watch a Lakers game, pay close attention to Bryant when the whistle blows. He starts working the referees early in a game, and doesn't give up, and his technicals show it.
-Barry Stavro
Our local hoops superstar, now in his 13th NBA season, has led the league in numerous statistical categories: scoring average, total points, free throws made, free throw attempts, field goals made, field goal attempts and games played. Then last season Kobe Bryant topped every player in tantrums, oops, I mean technical fouls.
Bryant notched 15 T's during the 82-game regular season, topping Baron Davis' 13, an unusually quiet Rasheed Wallace with 12, followed by half a dozen players with 11 each, including Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul. As Bryant piled up technicals last spring, and collected $22,500 in fines from the league, his coach Phil Jackson worried his star would be automatically suspended for a game if he reached 16. But Bryant quieted down and never hit that magic number. Then, with a clean slate in the playoffs, Bryant got hit with three more technicals during the Lakers' playoff run to the NBA Finals.
Bryant might have finally won the technical foul title last season, but the truth is he's been among the most penalized players for years. In the last five seasons, Detroit's Wallace set the true gold standard for technicals by amassing 97 -- including a whopping 27 T's during the 2004-05 season -- followed by Bryant with 65 in that period. Other technical foul specialists include the Clippers' Davis, who amassed 57 during the last five campaigns, plus the notably intense Kevin Garnett with 53, and Phoenix's Raja Bell with 50.
So the next time you watch a Lakers game, pay close attention to Bryant when the whistle blows. He starts working the referees early in a game, and doesn't give up, and his technicals show it.