Well, it appears the lariat/take-down that "The Nature Boy" Raja Bell executed on Kobe in Game 5 was the result of a long-running feud boiling over, one that I actually didn't know existed before last week. Apparently the two have been feuding for a while now, since Bell's rookie season in 2001, when the Lakers and Sixers met in the NBA Finals.

I don't know about you, but I'm enjoying every minute of this. I'm enjoying it so much that I'm rooting for the Suns to win tonight and extend the series so that this feud will be able to reach its climax in Game 7. It's only fitting that this happens. That game will be the stage for one of those truly great sports moments, the kind we'll look back on when we're older and say to ourselves, "I was there. I was there."

Below, just a few of the many highly entertaining run-ins between Kobe and Raja during the 2005-06 NBA season.

Suns at Lakers, Nov. 3, 2005
With 1:21 remaining in the 1st quarter and the Suns leading 26-21, Kobe draws a technical foul for elbowing Bell in the mouth and shoving him after Bell fouls him hard on a drive.

Lakers at Suns, Jan. 20, 2006
Responding to a reporter's question about Bell's tough defense in the game, in which Kobe scored 37 points on 12 of 33 shooting (9 for 9 FT), Kobe says, "Oh, come on. You've got to be kidding me, man. I had good looks, I missed them. It's as simple as that."
Says Raja: "He was settling for some shots I thought. As a defender, you hope he does that."

Lakers at Suns, April 7, 2006
Kobe is called for two fouls on Bell in the first half, one after lowering his shoulder and knocking Bell down in the 1st quarter and the other after pushing Bell aside while chasing a loose ball in the 2nd quarter.
With 1:31 remaining in the 3rd quarter and the Suns leading 79-75, Kobe draws a technical foul after making a comment to Bell. Jackson defends Kobe after the game, saying it was a "ridiculous" technical foul, and that Kobe "didn't say anything."
Kobe finishes the game with 51 points on 19 of 33 shooting (8 for 10 FT), but the Suns win 107-96. When asked about Bell after the game, Kobe tells reporters, "I don’t even think about Raja. I’ve got bigger fish to fry. You’ve got to be kidding me."

Suns at Lakers, April 16, 2006
The Suns rest Bell because of a thigh injury.
LA Times reporter Lonnie White talks to Kobe about his feud with Bell. Said Kobe: "I respect players in the league who play hard. There's a respect level there. But I don't know the guy. How can I not like the guy when I don't even know him? That doesn't make sense."

April 24, 2006 (day after Game 1 of West Quarterfinals)
LA Times reporter Mike Bresnahan talks to Bell about his feud with Kobe. Bell recalls an altercation he had with Kobe on the sidelines during a game a few years ago: "Basically, I said, 'Don't be mistaken that because you can put a ball in a basket that you're a bigger man.' I really think that in his mind, I'm inferior to him. Not talking basketball — as a man. And for me, basketball is basketball. But you're not going to walk on me as a man, or we can take it right to the parking lot."

May 4, 2006 (day after Bell receives a one-game suspension for his flagrant-2 foul on Kobe)
Bell offers his thoughts on the suspension and Kobe to Arizona Republic reporter Paul Coro. Among Bell's comments:
-- "We don't need an octagon. There's plenty of space and opportunity right out here (on the court), man. So he can talk all the (stuff) he wants to talk."
--"I don't hate him and I don't respect him."
--"I have no respect for him. Because I think he's a pompous, arrogant individual"

May 4, 2006
Kobe retorts: "I don't know this kid. I don't need to know this kid. I don't want to. 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."

(Memo to readers: Kobe is 27, Raja is 29. It's juvenile, I know, but I thought it was hilarious that Kobe referred to Raja as "this kid" when he's the one who's younger. Oh that Kobe. He sure has a rapist's wit.)

One other note on this. The guys on TNT and ESPN commented on how Bell's assault on Kobe wasn't consistent with his character, and that he's a good guy, a class act, etc. Like Kobe, I don't know Raja Bell, but I do know that hard fouls and flagrant fouls are his cup of tea.

2003-04
Technical fouls: 15
Flagrant fouls: 5 (led NBA)

2004-05
Technical fouls: 10
Flagrant fouls: 2

2005-06
Technical fouls: 7
Flagrant fouls: 2