The Evidence

Stupid refs.  My only hope in the future is to get a superstar of my own.  Hopefully Brandon Jennings will be that superstar.

Here’s more on Kobe & the game yesterday, from http://espn.go.com/blog/TrueHoop/post/_/id/11587/kobe-bryant-in-a-nutshell

Conspiracy theorists
The Lakers won by one point in overtime. They got three points in the final minute on a play that appeared to most observers to feature both a Bryant charge and a travel, when he made himself into a bowling ball and Andrew Bogut into a bowling pin.

The NBA says there are no such things as superstar calls, but was anybody surprised by that? Can you find examples of Dwyane Wade, LeBron James or Kobe Bryant getting whistled for offensive fouls with the ball on the way to the hoop with the game on the line? This is not new. If it happens at all, it happens very little. It’s evident superstars operate with a certain impunity. You could argue it’s a reason to have a superstar — so you don’t have to worry much about offensive fouls with the game on the line.

Even on the next play, Bryant’s game-winner, he gathered the ball, and then hopped noticeably with both feet before pivoting.

It’s not alarming or even all that disappointing to me. The game is hard to referee in real time, and everyone wants to see plays like the one above.

And in a way, wasn’t last night’s game perfect? Kobe Bryant fans, stat geeks, conspiracy theorists … Just about everyone got what they wanted.