updated 5:32 p.m. ET March 15, 2007

NEW YORK - The Los Angeles Lakers and Phil Jackson were fined $50,000 apiece by the NBA on Thursday after the coach said the league was conducting a “witch hunt” against Kobe Bryant.

Bryant recently received two one-game suspensions this season for striking players in the face after taking a shot. The league retroactively assessed Bryant with a flagrant foul for an elbow to Philadelphia’s Kyle Korver last week, a play that didn’t even draw a foul when it happened.

NBA executive vice president Stu Jackson said the fine was for Jackson’s “public criticisms of the NBA.”

“We’ve made our opinion clear and have been penalized by the league for doing so,” Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said. “We have nothing more to say on this issue.”

Bryant, speaking in Denver before the fine was levied, said he appreciated Jackson standing up for him.

“He was defending his player,” Bryant said at a shootaround for a game against the Nuggets.

Jackson clearly was upset with the NBA’s actions.

“It shouldn’t even have been a flagrant 1,” Jackson said Tuesday. “That’s crazy. That’s a vendetta. They have a witch hunt going on. It’s nuts. Guys riding somebody. Everybody does that in this league. It’s just becoming a witch hunt now.”

Bryant said the suspensions won’t change his shooting style. He’s second in the league in scoring behind Denver’s Carmelo Anthony.

“You have to be careful about how you play the game,” he said. “Go out there and play hard and do the best you can. Hopefully you don’t get suspended or anything like that.”

Asked if the league was overreacting, Bryant said: “I don’t really want to get into it too much. You can’t say anything about it without saying something inflammatory. I’d rather leave it alone and focus on the game.”

Jackson was fined $25,000 in November for critical remarks. He said Wednesday he wasn’t afraid of his comments leading to another fine.

Jackson didn’t speak to the media after the shootaround in Denver.

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