Paul Pierce dismisses talk that Kobe was victim of dirty play

During practice today, Paul Pierce was asked for his take on the Kobe Bryant/Dahntay Jones saga: (courtesy WEEI’s Mike Petraglia)

I think it got blown out of proportion. He put his hands up, got into his defender but because of the fact it’s Kobe Bryant, it’s an issue. If it was somebody else, we probably wouldn’t be talking about it.

Well said, Paul. I couldn’t agree more.

For those who haven’t been paying attention. Bryant severely sprained his ankle during the final seconds of Wednesday night’s game vs the Hawks. Kobe came down on Jones’ foot and later claimed it was a dirty play. The two players took to Twitter to state their cases.

A day later, the league issued a statement claiming a foul should have been called on Jones because he didn’t give Bryant enough space to land.

You be the judge. Is this a dirty play?

I don’t see how this is a dirty play. It happens countless times on any given night.

Bryant called the injury the worst ankle sprain in his 17 years. Miraculously, he went for being out indefinitely to a game-time decision tonight.