Posted on 11/21/2004 4:05:38 PM PST by El Conservador
NEW YORK (AP) -- Ron Artest was suspended for the rest of the season Sunday as the NBA came down hard on three members of the Indiana Pacers for fighting with fans when a melee broke out at the end of a game against the Detroit Pistons.
Overall, nine players from the teams were banned for more than 140 games, including some of the harshest penalties the league ever issued. Artest is the first player to be suspended for nearly an entire season for a fight during a game.
``The message the league sent was so powerful to players that they'll never do that again,'' Pistons CEO Tom Wilson said.
Indiana's Stephen Jackson was suspended for 30 games and Jermaine O'Neal for 25. Detroit's Ben Wallace -- whose shove of Artest after a foul led to the 5-minute fracas -- drew a six-game ban, while Pacers guard Anthony Johnson got five games.
``I'm sick about that for Indiana. I'm devastated for them,'' Pistons coach Larry Brown said. ``And we lost our heart and soul.''
Four players were suspended for a game apiece: Indiana's Reggie Miller, and Detroit's Chauncey Billups, Elden Campbell and Derrick Coleman.
All of the suspensions are without pay.
Artest, O'Neal and Jackson -- who all threw punches at fans in the stands or on the court at the end of the nationally televised Pacers-Pistons game Friday night -- began serving their suspensions Saturday. Indiana, limited to just six players because of the suspensions and injuries, dropped an 86-83 decision to Orlando.
``The actions of the players involved wildly exceeded the professionalism and self-control that should fairly be expected from NBA players,'' NBA commissioner David Stern said in a statement, adding that the league must not ``allow our sport to be debased by what seem to be declining expectations.''
The NBA also has to ``redefine the bounds of acceptable conduct for fans attending our games and resolve to permanently exclude those who overstep those bounds,'' Stern said.
He added that security procedures in all NBA arenas will be reviewed and rules need to be added to prevent a repeat of what happened at Auburn Hills, Mich., on Friday.
For Sunday night's home game against the Charlotte Bobcats -- Detroit's first outing since the melee -- the Pistons doubled the number of armed police to about 20 in the arena and increased other arena security personnel by about 25 percent.
When some spectators lined up to take pictures with Pistons guard Lindsey Hunter on the court before the game, two police officers stood just a few feet away.
The brawl was particularly violent, with Artest and Jackson bolting into the stands near center court and throwing punches at fans after debris was tossed at the players.
Later, fans who came onto the court were punched in the face by Artest and O'Neal.
Nine people were treated for injuries, and police are investigating possible criminal charges.
Wallace began the fracas by delivering a hard, two-handed shove to Artest after Wallace was fouled on a drive to the basket with 45.9 seconds remaining. After the fight ended, the referees called off the rest of the game.
The initial skirmish wasn't all that bad, with Artest retreating to the scorer's table and lying atop it after Wallace sent him reeling backward. But when a fan tossed a cup at Artest, he stormed into the stands, throwing punches as he climbed over seats.
Jackson joined Artest and threw punches at fans, who punched back. At one point, a chair was tossed into the fray.
The most recent example of an NBA player going into the stands and punching a fan came in February 1995, when Vernon Maxwell of the Houston Rockets pummeled a spectator in Portland. The league suspended him for 10 games and fined him $20,000.
Among the harshest non-drug-related penalties in NBA history was a one-year suspension of Latrell Sprewell -- later reduced to 68 games -- for choking Golden State Warriors coach P.J. Carlesimo at practice.
Kermit Washington of the Los Angeles Lakers drew a 60-day (26-game) suspension in 1977 for a punch that broke the jaw of the Houston Rockets' Rudy Tomjanovich during a game, while Dennis Rodman was suspended 11 games for kicking a courtside cameraman in the groin and six games for head-butting a referee.
Artest was benched for two games this month for asking Pacers coach Rick Carlisle for time off because of a busy schedule that included promoting a rap album.
Artest was suspended twice by the NBA last season, once for leaving the bench during a fracas at a Pacers-Celtics playoff game; the other for elbowing Portland's Derek Anderson. During the 2002-03 season, Artest was suspended five times by the NBA and once by the Pacers for a total of 12 games.
Artest also once grabbed a television camera and smashed it to the ground after a loss to the Knicks two years ago.
Updated on Sunday, Nov 21, 2004 6:42 pm EST
Instead of the personal insults, why don't you try and construct a cogent argument?
The bottom line: the league was right to suspend Artest for the year and the others for their respective time periods. However, the league blew it when it did not hit Ben Wallace harder.
But for Ben Wallace, none of this would have occurred.
Dats wight Hildy ... everything was ok till lil Wonnie got hit with the gweat big cup of ICE CUBES, the he twied to pummel evey one in the awena!
Are you a kindergarten teacher? Just a stab in the dark.
How quickly we forget Tanya Harding. She should have done serious time.
You know what, if you were in front of me, I might take whack at you, you snotty piece of crap. I'll expect you're too cowardly to let this post stand, too.
I'd knock you out, old man.
It would seem that the white NBA players aren't so sensitive to being 'dissed'. In the ghetto thug world, being 'dissed' is reason enough to kill someone. That's the real problem behind this, and it's not being addressed at all.
Normally, in the workplace, when an employee starts a fight he is immediately terminated. I guess it's a bit different with games players? Maybe the 'big money' has something to do with that?
Another personal insult. I thought we Republicans were better than this.
Look, I do not defend Artest. Instead, I point out the league's poor assessment of Ben Wallace.
Wallace shoved artest (against league rules). He continued to pursue Artest after repeatedly being told to stop (against league rules). He threw a towel at Artes (against league rules)which incited the fans.
Ben Wallace started all of this. The league should have hammered him with at least 25 games. This would have sent a message that the league was not going to tolerate unjustified retaliatory behavior that can lead to a melee.
It hit the guy square in the nose from 10 feet away. As a Redskins fan, I recommend he suit up as our new quarterback.
Baseball has no hip-hop culture, the number of black professional baseball players is in rapid decline, yet baseball has far more all-out brawls and has had more incidents of players getting in brawls with fans, throwing chairs at fans, or getting in brawls with security guards.
But, doesn't seem to bother people much if the perps aren't "street rap ghetto thugs." Catcher Chad Kreuter went into the stands to brawl with fans (who had stolen his cap) at Wrigley Field a few years ago and was suspended for 8 games. I did a search on FR to see if the incident was mentioned and couldn't turn anything up.
The vicious Todd Bertuzzi hit in Hockey, as an act of vile violence, alone, was about 100 times worse than every single thing combinedthat happened at that Pistons game. Is he from the ghetto rap culture?
No, everything was not ok before artest was assaulted by a fan. Wallace/Pistons got it handed to him, he couldn't deal with it, and wanted to get kicked out. He should have been ejected right after hitting artest, then again after throwing at him. He got off very easy...
It looked to me that one of the fat guys with the jersey on, not the one who went to blows with Artest, took the worst beating. The guy with the headband nailed him with a sucker punch that sent him flying off the screen!
These people are a bunch of animals and criminals. Rather than promote people like Cindo, Colin, Clarence, Thomas Sowell, etc, we get the Vibe and these other criminals.
I can't believe my eyes reading how my fellow freepers believe Wallace should have been penalized more than he was. Don't you people believe in personal responsibility? SO what if Wallace got Artest fired up-- Wallace threw no punches-- Artest and the others did..
It is just real surprising that people on freerepublic.com would think that Wallace should be penalized for the actions of others. For all of you who claim to be libertarians or Objectivists-- what would Ayn Rand think?. It is evil to hold Wallace accountable for the actions of the Fans and the uncontrollable Pacer players. Wallace started a scuffle-- nothing more. if you watch NBA games this happens often.
SO what if Wallace got Artest fired up
Actually, Artest stayed quite calm thru Wallace's fit. Even throwing stuff at him. But when the fans joined their star in the spectacle, Artest went off. Stern said he remembered Artest's previous suspensions. Now Wallace has a history, and next time he won't get off near as easy. Artest is now wishing that he would have fought back against Ben. Suspended for a couple games, nothing terrible. But Ben just kept pushing a non-responsive Artest...
yeah, and the riot is in no way related to Ron Artest's and Jackson's going into the stands? C'mon, bro! Those guys are lucky to have been able to leave the stands. If I was in there, me and my buds would have rocked them down back to the court where they belong. And is it considered normal for a player to LAY DOWN ON THE SCORER'S TABLE???? And where were all the refs, less that one lone referee keeping Artest back for awhile? Both Jackson and Artest should have been suspended for the rest of the year, including playoffs, and O'Neal should have been suspended for 40 games for hitting that innocent fan on the court. The fat guy was just trying to keep his buddy off the court and he already got socked by Artest for crying out loud.
I agree, that fat guy got knocked so bad with no notice whatsoever. "These people", meaning the ghetto rap mentality, are cowards. The fat guy really should sue the S%^& out of the team.
I agree with you, ElRushbo.
Let me say a couple of things.
1. I stand by Big Ben. All around, he is a great guy and is very classy. What he did last night was childish and inexcusable and the NBA gave him a suspension that any other NBA player would have gotten if they did the same thing.
2. Pistons fans are great people. Friday night was the exception, not the rule. I was thoroughly embarassed and disgusted by the actions of some fans at the game on Friday. Other than that, Pistons fans are good people who just want to see the Pistons work hard every night. I find it incredible that the national media all summer long were saying that Pistons fans are incredible and among the best in the league and then this trash happens and all of a sudden Pistons fans have always been bad and this was an incident just waiting to happen. Give me a break.
3. Artest, Jackson, and O'Neal deserved what they got, along with Ben. Professionals are supposed to act a certain way, and Friday night wasn't the way they are supposed to act.
4. I find it ironic that it was an Artest foul against the Pistons last year that ended his season (Game 7, Eastern Conference Finals), and a foul against the Pistons this year that ended his season. Look at the bright side Ron, you got that time off to promote your crappy album, after all.
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