BRYANT IS KNICKED OUT LAKERS STAR SUSPENDED FOR N.Y. GAME.

Byline: ROSS SILER Staff Writer

NEW YORK -- The Lakers' road trip was only a few hours old when Kobe Bryant was handed a phone Monday and told NBA security had a couple of questions for him. As it turned out, Bryant might as well have stayed home in Los Angeles an extra day.

The league suspended Bryant from Tuesday's game against the New York Knicks for striking San Antonio guard Manu Ginobili in the face -- ``unintentionally,'' as Bryant repeated over and over -- on a last-second shot in the fourth quarter of Sunday's loss.

No foul was called on the play. Both Ginobili and Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said after the game that they didn't think Bryant intentionally hit Ginobili. And with few avenues for appeal of such a decision, Bryant was out of luck.

The Lakers were informed of the suspension Tuesday morning, and the Knicks fans -- who pay the NBA's highest ticket prices -- were denied their only chance to see Bryant play at Madison Square Garden this season.

``I haven't seen a precedent for this,'' Bryant said. ``There's unintentional elbows that take place during the game all the time. I'm blown away by it, man. I really am. It makes no sense.''

In a conference call, Stu Jackson, NBA vice president of basketball operations, disagreed with Bryant's assertion that the blow was unintentional. ``We didn't view this as an inadvertent action,'' Jackson said.

``Astonished is more or less the word I would use,'' Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. ``I think it's a unilateral decision. Baseball has all the appeals that they go through. In basketball, we just have the decision come to us, and we submit. This is one of those things that we're questioning why.''

Stu Jackson said the determining factors were that Bryant made contact with Ginobili ``above the shoulders'' and that it was an ``unnatural basketball act,'' in that Bryant shot and then ``drove a stiff arm backward and struck Ginobili in the head.''

``There's so many things that are going into it,'' Phil Jackson said in response, ``that to draw a conclusion like that lends me to think that a non-basketball player probably made the decision on this particular act.

``I don't think someone who played basketball, knows how people work to try and get a foul or try to create contact and make a foul, would question it.''

For the record, Stu Jackson did play three years of college basketball at Oregon. He was a head coach with the Knicks and Vancouver Grizzlies before joining the league office.

The NBA Players Association asked for an emergency appeal, with the Lakers playing only 20 blocks or so from the league office on Fifth Avenue. Stu Jackson said Bryant would be able to appeal his lost pay ($161,079) at a later date but not the suspension.

``This is not the process that we use at the NBA,'' Stu Jackson said. ``Certainly in theory, given the fact the Lakers were in New York, we could have heard an appeal. But we never have as it's not part of our process.''

Phil Jackson had an immediate answer -- ``We can't go there, we really can't go there, I don't think the league would intentionally do that'' -- when asked if the NBA was treating Bryant unfairly. ``Kobe's not a malicious player,'' the coach added. ``He's a tough player, he's a physical player, but not a malicious player.''

Bryant was suspended two games last season for a forearm he delivered to Memphis guard Mike Miller's chin. But Stu Jackson said Bryant's history did not factor into Tuesday's decision.

On the play in question, the Lakers inbounded the ball to Bryant looking for a final shot with 2.7 seconds left and the score tied 80-80. Bryant faked Bruce Bowen into the air and moved to his left as Ginobili closed from behind.

Ginobili got a hand on Bryant's jumper but was hit in the face as Bryant flailed his arm trying to draw a foul as he came down. Ginobili crumpled to the floor while Bryant stayed with the play and tried to get off a second shot.

As overtime started, Ginobili received treatment on the bench. He returned for the final 2:14 with Bryant saying Ginobili acknowledged to him the play was an ``accident'' after he checked back in.

``After the play, I just felt terrible about it,'' Bryant said. ``I went over to him and checked with him, made sure he was OK. We started overtime, I saw he wasn't out on the floor, I went up to Tim (Duncan), I asked Tim, `Is Manu OK?' I looked over at the bench, checked with him, made sure he was all right. When he came back in the game, I said: `Glad to see you're doing all right. Is everything OK?' I checked with him three times. I felt horrible about it. It's basketball. It happens.''

Bryant said he was unconcerned even after getting Monday's call from security. ``It wasn't something that I went to bed worried about,'' he said.

While Bryant wasn't allowed to attend Tuesday's game, in accordance with league rules, Phil Jackson was asked what recourse the Lakers had with a limited appeals process.

``Just hold Kobe out against LeBron James two weeks from Thursday,'' he said.

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(color) Kobe Bryant said his one-game suspension for striking Manu Ginobili made ``no sense'' to him.

Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images