Kobe Bryant’s 48-year-old housekeeper says that working for the NBA star and his wife was a living hell. In a lawsuit she filed against the duo on Friday, Maria Jimenez alleges that the Bryants verbally abused her, humiliated her and denied her the health coverage they promised when she began working for them in September 2007. The Bryants didn’t fire Jimenez, according to her attorney, William Vogeler, but Bryant’s wife made it impossible for her to continue working at the couple’s Orange County, Calif., home. Read more.

Ron Artest, the quick-to-the-draw Houston Rockets forward, got into a heated exchange with the Black Mamba, Kobe Bryant, during the Lakers-Rockets game. So how did Bryant respond?

Kobe Hits Scoring Milestone
Los Angeles Lakers Kobe Bryant’s breakaway layup with less than 11 minutes to go in the third quarter elevated him to the 20th spot in scoring in NBA history Sunday, just ahead of former Lakers great Elgin Baylor and into third in franchise history, behind only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Jerry West. Bryant’s 28 points also elevated the Lakers to a 111-108 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in Minneapolis. Bryant was 6-for-8 in the first half, and most of his points came off of short turnaround jumpers. “He is the best player in the game, the way he plays, the way he dominates,” Minnesota’s Randy Foye said of Bryant. “It’s just a tough matchup. It’s a mismatch all around the board. They’re always going to have a mismatch, no matter the position.” Bryant also had seven assists and six rebounds.

Dungy Blasts NCAA for Lack of Black Coaches
Former Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy, the first African American to win a Super Bowl, is blasting universities for their paucity of Black coaches, a month after walking away from professional football. In a column he wrote for The New York Times, Dungy said that the time is now for the league to ensure a fairer playing field for African-American strategists. February is when high school football players choose the colleges they will attend in the fall, Dungy said. “While it’s an exciting day for those seniors, it’s a disappointing day for me,” he writes. “You see, many of those players who choose the top schools are African American and yet almost none of them will get the opportunity to play for an African-American head coach. Of 120 teams in the N.C.A.A.’s Bowl Subdivision, the top tier of play, only seven have [B]lack head coaches. One would think that our universities would be leading the way in progressive thinking. You wouldn’t think that in 2009 it would be more likely for an African-American to become president of the United States than to be hired as head coach of a top-20 football program. But that seems to be the case.” He said that over the past decade he has been contacted by various campuses looking for head coaches, and he has recommended many men “with great leadership skills and great track records in the N.F.L. None was hired, and rarely did they even get interviewed by those universities.” He said, “With the progress that has been made in terms of diversity in politics, in other collegiate sports and in professional football … why is college football hiring so far behind?”

 Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, whose longstanding feud dates back to 2003, were forced into an alliance at the NBA All-star game Sunday – and they made the most out of it, sharing the award for the West team’s Most Valuable Player. Bryant and O’Neal combined for 44 points, on their way to a 146-119 spanking of the East All-stars. ”It felt like old times,” said O’Neal, who played several seasons on the Lakers with Bryant – including three championship years – before being traded to the Miami Heat in 2004. ”I miss those times. He was really looking for me, especially when we went to a pick-and-roll and they had Rashard Lewis on me.” But after Bryant was arrested on rape charges in 2003, he pointed his finger at Shaq, telling the world the he hadn’t been the only one who had been unfaithful to his wife over the years. That little offering of info sparked the feud, which became public knowledge when O’Neal took the stage at a New York City nightclub last year and spit out a freestyle diss of Bryant. There was no sign of that icy relationship on Sunday. O’Neal even went as far as to call Bryant the best baller in the NBA. ”I tell you what, those two guys together, that’s a deadly combination as we all saw tonight and we have all seen in the past,” East Coach Mike Brown said. ”They are where they are right now, but if they were to stay together, no telling how many more rings they would have had on their fingers and toes.” Said West All-star Coach Phil Jackson, who led O’Neal and Bryant to their titles with the Lakers: ”I think it is a great life lesson for people. This is something that the people work together, people find a way to get through situations, find harmony in their life, find cohabitation.”

Bowl Viewers Got a Nudie Show
The Comcast Cable company is apologizing to fans in Tucson, Ariz., for the brief nudie show that “flashed” before home viewers for 10 seconds as Cardinal wideout Larry Fitzgerald raced toward a game-turning TD in the fourth quarter. The Arizona Cardinals would eventually give the lead back to the Pittsburgh Steelers for good, but 10-second porn clip, which included full frontal nudity, was enough to take football fans’ minds away from the game, at least for a moment. “We are mortified by last evening’s Super Bowl interruption, and deeply apologize to our customers for the inappropriate programming,” Comcast Cable said in a written statement. “Our initial investigation suggests this was an isolated malicious act.” Comcast, and several local television stations that carried the signal, say they are currently investigating what caused the interruption. “It appears this material was only viewed by some Comcast customers,” local Tucson television station KVOA-TV said in a written statement.

Kobe Breaks Scoring Record
Kobe Bryant dropped 61 on the New York Knicks Monday night, leading his Los Angeles Lakers in a 126-117 win and setting a new Madison Square Garden scoring record. And his phenomenal individual effort could not have come at a better time for his squad, considering the devastating, potentially season-ending loss of center Andrew Bynum. He was hailed by the sold-out crowd for his highest score of the season, who apparently recognized that he had passed Bernard King’s 60 points a quarter-century ago. It was Bryant’s 24th 50-plus game of his career and his fifth 40-point game at the New York arena. Bynum was hurt Saturday at Memphis when Bryant missed a driving shot, then crashed into his leg. He could make it back in time for the playoffs.

Bryant’s knee won’t sideline him. A knee injury that Kobe Bryant suffered in a Tuesday pre-season game doesn’t appear to be serious. Bryant’s right knee was still sore after he banged it against teammate Josh Powell’s while chasing a rebound in the contest with Charlotte. But on Wednesday, the star told the Associated Press that he’s OK: “I’m all right, a little bit better today, a better mood, anyway.” Bryant wore an ice bag and sat out from practice, however, he doesn’t expect to miss any game time.

New Orleans Saints star rusher Reggie Bush is likely to miss three to six weeks after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery following an injury to his left meniscus. Bush suffered the injury in Sunday’s 30-7 loss to Carolina while returning a punt. The player had 55 yards on nine carries and caught a five-yard pass before leaving the game. Bush had already missed a practice due to swelling in the same knee, but the Saints then said the ailment was not serious. His surgery kept him from taking a trip to London to celebrate his boo Kim Kardashian’s 28^th birthday.

Mixed martial arts company will file for bankruptcy. Barely two weeks after his 14-second loss to a virtually unknown fighter, Kimbo Slice and others in the EliteXC fighting league will have to find a new competitive home. The mixed martial arts organization that helped propel Slice to fame from his prior days as a bouncer and street fighter is shutting down its operations. Parent company ProElite, Inc. reportedly plans to file for bankruptcy protection. A November title fight has been cancelled. Slice’s shocking knockout loss to Seth Petruzelli remains under investigation by the Florida State Athletic Commission after Petruzelli publicly commented about monetary compensation that he may have been offered to employ a certain fighting style versus Slice. Petruzelli’s comments suggested that he received a cash incentive outside of his contract.

Will an NBA superstar give it all up for Greece?

Three years, $60 million. Could it be enough to send one of the NBA’s marquee players packing for Europe? A New York Times article announcing that the Greek organization Olympiacos plans to fish for American free agents has led to rumors that Kobe Bryant is among those who might hit the hardwood overseas. But the Lakers star is still under contract for the rest of this year. He could opt out of and test the market by next summer, but best guesses have it that he’ll re-sign with the L.A.James Blake loses for fifth time in Spain. After five appearances at the Madrid Masters, James Blake’s luck is unchanged. The tennis phenom is 0-5 after his latest appearance in the Spanish tournament and loss Tuesday to Gilles Simon. Simon won 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 to send Blake home for the remainder of the competition.