Dahntay Jones Disagrees With Kobe Bryant’s Claim of Dirty Play

Atlanta Hawks guard Dahntay Jones finds himself embroiled in a mini-firestorm, following accusatory comments made by Kobe Bryant after severely spraining his left ankle. Jones says he wasn’t trying to hurt the Lakers superstar, and that he was simply contesting the late-game jumper. Per the AJC: “Jones appeared on ESPN Thursday to claim he is not a dirty player after Lakers star Kobe Bryant suffered a severe ankle sprain after missing a potential game-tying shot. ‘The play I don’t think was dirty because all I was trying to do was contest a jump shot,’ Jones said. ‘Yes it was a fade away but when you deal with shooters or high-profile scorers you have to try to get as close to them as possible to contest jump shots. So, even though he faded away you still don’t give up on a play. You try to still contest it. That’s all I was trying to do. I wasn’t trying to do anything dirty. We played 48 minutes of basketball before that. There were not issues before that. And I wouldn’t take him out on the last play of the game.’ […] ‘Mind you, I don’t know that he is going to fade away,’ Jones said. ‘So with eight seconds on the clock I have an (isolation play) at the top of the key. He is going into a move and I’m just reacting to him. I wasn’t trying to intentionally walk into him. I was just reacting to what was going on. I saw him fade away and I still tried to get closer to him and put my hands up so he had to see a body. I’m just not supposed to give up on a play.'”