Theories why Kobe Bryant hasnt been getting foul calls

[leeprettyp]

Been listening to Mason and Ireland today and also Max and Marcellus out here in L.A. on local radio and this topic has really been coming up alot lately. I can definitely tell you majority of real Lakers fans have argued this topic for years. Kobe gets constantly beat up when he attacks the rim, I honestly think he's starting to shoot more jumpers the last few years because he's not getting the whistle from the refs when he should. Let alone it being a superstar player. Could it be payback from the complaining over the years? Probably... But in reality regardless of all of that the refs should be held accountable and have a job to do despite their distain for the guy? Think something bigger is going on here. Probably because the NBA has a new younger breed of superstar players on hand and also a new official faces and brands of the NBA in Lebron James and Kevin Durant. IMO Kobe should be getting around the same amount of free throws that Bron, Westbrook, Melo, Wade and Durant get. Issue is coaches have caught on to how the refs are officiating Kobe so their telling the designated wing defender to play physical on him. Hey I wouldnt argue about it if the rules hadnt changed for how your allowed to defend a wing player. If it was still the 90's or even early 2000's and u could rough up the offensive player so be it. But with the current rules it doesnt make sense to me why Bean isnt getting at least 10-12ft's per game. If u think about it with those free throw attempts alone his efficiency would pick back up.

Thoughts fellas?

[semi-sentient]

He tries too hard to finish plays near the basket when there's contact, so the refs probably see it as acceptable contact and go on about their business.

Look at some of the other slashers in the league. They throw themselves into defenders and throw up wild shots that force the refs to call something. When Kobe attacks he's typically trying to put the ball in the basket and worry about the contact afterwards.

I have no doubt that some of it has to do with his constant whining about the lack of foul calls, but it's mostly his style of play. He doesn't sell contact inside well enough. He does a great job of selling it on his jump shots though, but it would be best if it were the other way around because he does tend to move away from the basket when calls aren't going his way.

[Wavy Q]

He's still 4th in the league in FT attempts, ahead of LeBron, Westbrook, and Wade

[Dr Aki]

kobe's known as someone who:
1. (fairly and unfairly) complains a lot
2. gets touch fouls called for him
3. gets mugged and doesn't get called (u can actually say this of every player really)

so when 1 ref doesn't see things the same way as another ref (game to game), kobe starts complaining and is hit with techs, making his complaining even more visible

so does kobe have it better or worse than player X, Y, Z? well, watching the game through purple and gold shaded goggles certainly won't help

and there aren't statistics out there that analyses touch fouls (false positives) and uncalled muggings (false negatives) for us to peruse

[AcecardZ]

He doesn't get to the line more because Stern is protecting Jordan's legacy. No other explanation makes sense./thread

[ennui]

He's top 5 in free throw attempts. I don't see how he's being unfairly treated by the refs.

Frankly, it's responses like "Stern is protecting Jordan's legacy" that make people hate Kobe fans. It's pure conjecture.

[AcecardZ]

He's still 4th in the league in FT attempts, ahead of LeBron, Westbrook, and Wade

And he's second in USG behind Westdouche.

The big difference to me is the hammering Kobe takes compared to the beatings other stars around the league have to endure. And as far as touch fouls go Kobe doesn't get near the touch fouls called in his favor that KD, LeBron, Wade of Westdouche get.

[AcecardZ]

He's top 5 in free throw attempts. I don't see how he's being unfairly treated by the refs.

Frankly, it's responses like "Stern is protecting Jordan's legacy" that make people hate Kobe fans. It's pure conjecture.

Yes conjecture indeed but as a player that watched Jordan play all through the 90's and have watched probably 80% of every game Kobe has ever played in I feel qualified to give an opinion. Biased or not it doesn't mean it lacks merit.

People dislike Kobe fans because Kobe fans try argue he's better than Jordan. If Kobe fans would would back off Of the Kobe > Jordan arguments they'd get less hate.

And fwiw Kobe used to get "the Jordan treatment" from the refs but that cooled off significantly around 2005/06.

[Doormatt]

He's still 4th in the league in FT attempts, ahead of LeBron, Westbrook, and Wade

irrelevant though since kobe has a lower foul drawn % at 11.4. for reference wade is at 16.5%, durant is at 16.7% and lebron is at 12.8%.

free throw attempts are meaningless in comparison because they dont account for pace, number of possessions, or number of field goal attempts a player takes (in the case of kobe he takes more shots than most of these guys.

He's top 5 in free throw attempts. I don't see how he's being unfairly treated by the refs.

Frankly, it's responses like "Stern is protecting Jordan's legacy" that make people hate Kobe fans. It's pure conjecture.

idc either way but looking at just straight up free throw attempts is wrong, especially since drawing fouls /=/ free throw attempts.

[dockingsched]

He doesn't get to the line more because Stern is protecting Jordan's legacy. No other explanation makes sense./thread

[ennui]

He's still 4th in the league in FT attempts, ahead of LeBron, Westbrook, and Wade

irrelevant though since kobe has a lower foul drawn % at 11.4. for reference wade is at 16.5%, durant is at 16.7% and lebron is at 12.8%.

free throw attempts are meaningless in comparison because they dont account for pace, number of possessions, or number of field goal attempts a player takes (in the case of kobe he takes more shots than most of these guys.

That's understandable considering the aforementioned players are all uber-athletic slashers in their primes. I would postulate that their shots attempted in the paint are significantly higher than their midrange or three point attempts. I completely agree that foul drawn rate is a better way to quantify free throw disparity though.

He's top 5 in free throw attempts. I don't see how he's being unfairly treated by the refs.

Frankly, it's responses like "Stern is protecting Jordan's legacy" that make people hate Kobe fans. It's pure conjecture.

idc either way but looking at just straight up free throw attempts is wrong, especially since drawing fouls /=/ free throw attempts.

While true, this doesn't validate the "Stern protecting legacies" argument.

[Slava]

Aliens!

[Doormatt]

i personally dont care because even though i do think kobe gets the least friendly calls of most superstar players that are equal to or better than him, it doesnt matter in the long run. its not enough to change the outcomes of games consistently, so its just one of those things that i wonder why people care about.

i mean its common for players who are playing in their primes/athletic peaks to get more calls, every player goes thru that. kobe went thru it, and now guys like lebron and durant are going thru it, and one day in the future people will look at them and say they dont get nearly the calls they got when they were younger. just the way the life cycle of a player works.

[Michael Lucky]

he gets plenty of foul calls considering he's top 5 in the league in FTAs for most of the year. The fact is no one goes to the line everytime they were fouled. If that happened there would be no flow to the game and it would simply be a free throw contest.

[leeprettyp]

Aliens!

[Minge]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9891au8v05I[/youtube]

[KB24TBOTB]

He doesn't get to the line more because Stern is protecting Jordan's legacy. No other explanation makes sense./thread

Exactly how I felt after reading that

[kblo247]

Trying to phase his ass out is all.

Lie the warrior game, guy took 19 shots in the paint and wasnt fouled once. Please!

[DEEP3CL]

Man not this topic again......let's see.

Poor ref repore

Years of arm flinging, yelling, cuss'in, 1 derogatory comment at Bennie Adams.

Yep that covers it.

[theFRANCHISE]

I honestly think after a certain time, refs just don't give you the calls anymore. I rememeber shaq would always get calls in his favor but near the end of his career he wasn't getting any called his way at all.