[FITZ]

Gangsta Ball... Not surprised.

Would you assume that a 290 pound non-gangsta white guy would never respond to any insults and would meekly stand there doing nothing if some runt threw a beer at him?

[Barney59]

Would you assume that a 290 pound non-gangsta white guy would never respond to any insults and would meekly stand there doing nothing if some runt threw a beer at him?

If he had a sense of dignity and self-control (aka: what a professional athlete 'should' have) then he would realize that there are boundaries and behavior not becoming of a 'Professional'... i quote the commissoner:

"We have to make the point that there are boundaries in our games," Stern said. "One of our boundaries, that have always been immutable, is the boundary that separate the fans from the court. Players cannot lose control and move into the stands."

So you disagree with the Commissioner in condoning the actions of Mr. Artest & company? Or are you just trying to isolate the life-style reference to the NBA players involved as some sort of separate issue? That won't work either because my reference to gang style dress, attitudes, tattoo's... disrespect for authority (think Spreewell), etc., is more than valid...

"The line is drawn, and my guess is that won't happen again - certainly not by anybody who wants to be associated with our league," commissioner David Stern said.