The part that is alarming is the league’s determination that it was not an “inadvertent action.” If the NBA purports to be fair about these things, there should have to be context before handing down such a penalty. For instance, if Ginobili and Bryant had been sparring all game, or if Bryant had a history of smashing guys he didn’t like during a jump shot. But to declare Bryant’s intent — and then deny him and the Lakers an appeal process before making him sit out — seems to be a preposterous overreaction by an overly sensitive league obsessed with its image.

And I can see why the NBA might err on the side of shafting its players over every little misstep. There was the Malice at the Palace. There was the Knicks-Nuggets imbroglio. Occasionally, a gun either goes off, or is found in somebody’s possession. That type of stuff looks bad. The league has corporate sponsors. I understand all that.

But the dopey decision to suspend Kobe Bryant over a trifle transfers the league’s image problem from the court to the offices on Fifth Avenue. Now the players aren’t making the NBA look bad, the NBA is making its players look bad. Just as the players have a responsibility to act in a professional manner, so does Stern, Jackson and their associates. In a perfect world, Stern and Jackson would have to sit out a game and pay a fine.

Stern and Jackson also should be cited for cruelty, but not for what they’re doing to Bryant. Because of the suspension, the Lakers’ superstar was forced to miss his team’s only visit this season to Madison Square Garden. You mean to tell me that after all Knicks fans have had to endure they get one shot to see Kobe play and they’re denied it? Over that?! Ginobili only got hit once. New Yorkers have had the rotting carcass of a once-proud franchise shoved in their faces repeatedly by James Dolan and Isiah Thomas. Talk about misplaced priorities by the commish.

Usually when a player is suspended he has the opportunity to reflect upon his transgressions. So I fully expect Kobe Bryant to read the decision handed down by Jackson and the NBA and draw the obvious conclusion:

“Huh?!”

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