In the competitive Western Conference, the L.A. Lakers can ill afford losing their best player, Kobe Bryant. However, he is just one technical foul away from an automatic one game suspension. With ten games remaining in the regular season, Kobe Bryant has fifteen technical fouls. The suspension rule kicks in when the player reaches the sixteen mark.

This ruling has playoff implications too. If the sixteenth technical foul mark is reached in the final game, the suspension rule would hold. The Lakers would be missing Kobe Bryant for the next game, which would be the first game in the post season play.

In the technical foul category, Kobe Bryant is well ahead of the pack. Here is the list, as of March 28:

• Kobe Bryant: 15 technicals
• Baron Davis: 11 technicals
• Rasheed Wallace: 11 technicals

link: technical fouls

Kobe Bryant has been ejected twice. A more mellow Rasheed Wallace has not had an ejection. In the final ten games of the Lakers season, the L.A. fans will be watching what Kobe Bryant does on the court… and also what he doesn’t do.

Catherine Forsythe
Director of Operations
FlyingHamster:  http://flyinghamster.com/

[tag]nba, l.a. lakers, kobe bryant, technical fouls, suspension[/tag]