EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant was suspended for two games without pay Friday for elbowing Mike Miller of the Memphis Grizzlies in the throat.
Bryant was called for a flagrant foul for elbowing Miller with 8:24 remaining in the fourth quarter in Wednesday night's 100-99 overtime loss to the Grizzlies. He is scheduled to serve his suspension Sunday, when the Lakers host Utah, and Tuesday, when Los Angeles plays at the Jazz.
"Very surprised. Shocked, actually. Very, very surprised," Bryant said after practice Friday. "Angry and frustrated. I've been hit with a couple of flagrant fouls already this year. I've been hit with a clothesline and no suspensions come of that. and I get two games for this?"
After the game, Bryant was unapologetic. He was cut over his left eye early in the third quarter when Miller elbowed him while driving to the basket. Bryant left the game briefly, and took three stitches to close the wound.
"Any player that was going to come down the lane at that point in time, I was going to let him know that he just can't walk through there," Bryant said after the game.
Bryant said his postgame comments were "no different than what everybody else says."
"Somebody comes down the lane, you've got to hit him," he said Friday.
Lakers coach Phil Jackson said he believed Bryant's postgame comments were a factor in the suspension.
"I think that contributed to it somewhat," Jackson said. "So we live with that decision."
Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak took issue with the suspension: "We understand that the league has a job to do in enforcing disciplinary action, but we disagree with and are disappointed with their ruling."
LUCAS FULFILLS DREAM: John Lucas III started playing in the NBA when he was 4, shagging rebounds as a ball boy for his father and the rest of the Houston Rockets.
Now, the 23-year-old rookie from Oklahoma State is officially an NBA player — given that chance by the same team that drafted his dad in 1976.
The injury-depleted Rockets signed Lucas III on Thursday. He'll wear his father's old No. 15 when Houston plays Golden State at the Toyota Center on Saturday night.
"I always felt like I belonged here," Lucas said Friday. "I feel at home. I don't feel like a newcomer. This is what my father and I have been training for."
The elder Lucas, now 52, played 14 NBA seasons, with the Rockets, Golden State, Washington, San Antonio, Milwaukee and Seattle. He later coached the Spurs, Philadelphia and Cleveland, but his heart and home always stayed in Houston, where he opened a substance-abuse center for professional athletes.
"That is really, really special that the team that's giving him a chance is my team," said Lucas, Jr.
Lucas III starred at Bellaire High School in Houston, scoring more than 3,300 points. The 6-foot point guard played two seasons at Baylor, then transferred to Oklahoma State, where he finished his career among the top 5 in Big 12 history in points (1,877), 3-pointers (281) and assists (535).
Undrafted in the summer, Lucas III signed a free-agent contract with Minnesota, but was cut in the preseason. He was playing for Tulsa of the NBA's developmental league when the Rockets contacted him.