Raja Bell:
"Honestly? He hit me in the face, then he came down and tried to bully me a couple times on the play. I went over the referee, Greg Willard, and asked him what happened, and Phil Jackson said 'I effing deserved it.' And then I said 'what?' and he said, 'You effing deserve it.' "
Kobe:
"I don't think anyone expects to get clotheslined during a basketball game. But it was still fun."
Raja Bell:
"It's a personal thing when someone continually hits you in the face. That's the only way I can put it. I've been playing as hard as I can play, been trying to do a good job, I've been trying to be what my team needs me to be, and I continually get hit in my face."
Kobe:
"Oh come on, I retaliate and what, miss a game?
For this guy?" (shakes his head)
Raja Bell:
"There doesn't seen to be any boundaries or limitations for what he's allowed to do to me, and at that point I kinda lost my cool and I took it into my own hands."
Kobe:
"Does he know me? Do I know this guy? I don't know this guy. I might have said one word to this guy. I don't know this kid. I think he overreacts to stuff. I don't know him, I don't think about him. We go out there and we play, we play during the season, we play each other. That's it.
I don't know this kid. I don't need to know this kid. I don't want to. We go out there and play the game and leave it at that.
Maybe he wasn't hugged enough as a kid, I look at him a little bit and he gets a little insecure about something. I don't know."