By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Kobe Bryant believes that the level of physicality in European basketball is much stronger than in the NBA. At least right now.
The five-time NBA champion isn’t particularly happy with how easily referees are calling fouls these days in cases like a “light hand check” and even went as far as saying that this kind of officiating has made the game less physical than in Europe.
Kobe thinks that the game in the NBA is getting “ridiculous” by this kind of calls. And this ought to be changed.
The “Black Mamba” expressed this opinion during the ESPN show “Detail.”
Per SLAM:
What rules would you change in today’s NBA?
Kobe: “I’d allow for more physicality in the game. I’d allow for hand-checking, things like that.
“I feel like European basketball is more physical than the NBA is right now. I think the NBA needs to be more physical.
“Not to the sense of the way the Pistons were playing where guys are literally fearing for their safety when they’re up in the air, not that kind of basketball. But something where you’re not getting called for a body check or light hand check or things like that.
“I think just makes the game ridiculous. It trickles down to NCAA. I could barely watch some of these games in the NCAA because, like, a player touches a guy with a thumb and it’s a foul in a situation where it’s costing them the game.
“That type of stuff drives me crazy. That would be the first thing I’d change.”
You think the lack of physicality is taking away from the experience for fans?
Kobe: “I think it needs to be more enjoyable. It’s more enjoyable if there’s a certain level of physicality. You get to see players go mano-a-mano a little bit instead of, Oh, my God, he put a hand on me, it’s a foul. That’s got to go, man.
“It challenges players to improve their skill level, too. If you can hand check, things like that, you really must be fundamentally sound, you really must be able to handle the ball to get past defenders.”