Well, I'm a professional in my field too. But say somebody in my office comes up and shoves me by the throat, and I back up and off. I lay down and mind my own business and someone else comes up and throws a beer on me. You are telling me I am not suppose to defend myself? Don't count on that happening.
Yes you can defend yourself. But if you go to the next office and punch out the receptionist, it's over.
What in the world was Artest DEFENDING himself from? He wasn't defending -- he was RETALIATING. The police/security are supposed to handle the cup thrower. Not Artest.
That's would be an accurate analogy if you had things thrown at you on a regular basis. Every single professional sport has fans that throw things at players. It is part of the territory. Now, if I was a fan, and that jackass came at me, I would beat the tar out of him, as much as I could.
That is not the same .. in an office, you are in a controlled environment and a riot would not break out
The dude that threw the cup was wrong .. and Security would have thrown his butt out on the street
Artest rushed the stands not knowing who threw the cup and attacked the first person he saw .. He should have known better and so should the rest of the team that rushed the stands beating up on people