Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant was as fierce a competitor as anyone who has ever stepped foot on an NBA court. So considering Bryant suited up for over 1300 games across 20 seasons, one would think he accumulated a fairly large number of suspensions and ejections over this span, but that isn't quite the case. While he was a fiery trash talker and competitor, Bryant knew when not to cross the line and only did so on a handful of occasions throughout his long and storied career.
With that said, let's go back in time and take a look at Bryant's past suspensions and ejections, which were few and far between:
Ejections
Most NBA fans during the 2000s remember the circumstances of Kobe Bryant's arguably most famous ejection. On April 2nd, 2000, in a game versus Patrick Ewing and the New York Knicks, Bryant and Knicks guard Chris Childs exchanged punches after Bryant threw an elbow at Childs. Both players were later ejected from the game, which the Lakers won convincingly, 106-82.
Surprisingly, this was the lone time in Bryant's career that he was thrown out of a game for fighting. Though a constant instigator, Bryant rarely put his hands on another player, which no doubt saved him a lot of money and headache.
However, although this was the only time Bryant was ejected for fighting, it wasn't the only time he was ejected. On six other occasions over his time in the league, Bryant headed to the locker room early, though these instances were for arguing with referees. The last ejection of his career came in the waning moments of a loss against the Milwaukee Bucks all the way back in December of 2010.
Bryant never got thrown out of a single game for the final five seasons of his NBA stint. Perhaps some of the reason for this was that the Lakers weren't very competitive during the twilight of Bryant's career. Still, he showed impressive restraint to avoid any early sendoffs for such a long time.
Suspensions
The number of suspensions that Kobe Bryant accumulated is even smaller than his ejections. Interestingly enough, he was not suspended for his aforementioned fight with Childs. Bryant received only three suspensions in the NBA, totaling four games, all because of improper use of his elbows. The largest suspension he received was for two games for elbowing Memphis Grizzlies guard Mike Miller in the throat in a game back in December 2005. Then, two years later in 2007, he was suspended one game for elbowing Spurs guard Manu Ginobili and one more for striking Timberwolves guard Marko Jaric.
These suspensions came during a frustrating time in the purple and gold's history. The franchise struggled to get back to its winning ways without Shaquille O'Neal, so maybe all of the losses played a role in Bryant losing his cool at times throughout this O'Neal-less era.
Opposing coaches and players alike feared Bryant on the court, yet he was, all in all, very well-behaved. He was involved in just one real fight in 1300-plus games of play and hit the locker rooms early just seven times. Bryant certainly developed a tough-guy reputation during his career, but he wasn't an enforcer on the court like Draymond Green, Rasheed Wallace, or Patrick Beverley. Kobe Bryant let his game do most of the talking.
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