[ChuckElias]

They could have ejected him, if they saw fit to do so. I didn't see the game (in fact, I didn't even see the foul until SportsCenter this morning), so I don't know what the call was on the court.

However, if the officials had decided to eject Kobe, they had a couple of options. They could have called it a Flagrant Foul (Level 2) or they could have called it an elbow foul (which is an unsportsmanlike foul). If they had called it an elbow foul, then it would have been an automatic ejection b/c the elbow made contact above the shoulders.

They could not, however, have given a "double technical". (Double fouls occur when opponents foul each other.) The term for what you probably meant is "flagrant technical foul". But they couldn't have assessed a flagrant technical either b/c the foul involved contact during a live ball. So a technical doesn't fit the situation.

So, yes, they could've ejected him and had a couple different justifications for doing so if they deemed it appropriate. I can't say if they should have, b/c I wasn't on the court. Ronnie Nunn will probably make the decision on whether the officials should've ejected him.

But I think I can say that if that happened in my high school game (intentional forearm to the neck), I would disqualify the offender.

BTW, all the terminology that I've used here (Flagrant, Level 2, "elbow foul", unsportsmanlike) all have unique meanings in the NBA ruleset. So don't try to use them when talking about NCAA or HS games. Some of them don't exist in HS/NCAA and others have different meanings.

Hope that helps.