Posted on 11/20/2004 11:43:57 AM PST by Dan from Michigan
NBA indefinitely suspends Artest, O'Neal, Jackson, Wallace
November 20, 2004
NEW YORK (AP) -- The NBA suspended Ron Artest, Jermaine O'Neal and Stephen Jackson of Indiana and Ben Wallace of Detroit on Saturday for taking part in one of the ugliest brawls in U.S. sports history.
The suspensions were indefinite, and the league was still investigating Friday night's melee, which commissioner David Stern called ``shocking, repulsive and inexcusable -- a humiliation for everyone associated with the NBA.''
The league issued a statement saying it was reviewing rules and security procedures ``so that fans can continue to attend our games unthreatened by events such as the ones that occurred last night.''
It's just NBA thugball (no relation to the recognised sport called "basketball") continuing its logical course of evolution.
This is hardly an isolated incident. Bill Cosby is right, and anyone out there trying to dismiss him by calling him a sell-out or a racist doesn't have a valid argument.
Amen.
1. 141 posts and nobody said anything about blaming W for this.
2. No Democrat has issued a statement linking the fight to values.
3. It could also have been a solidarity move - the basketball players wanted to remind the fans what a hockey game looks like.
Kick them all out of the NBA.
There's a lot of talent ready to replace them.
It's a video. If you can't see it you need the DivX codec. http://www.divx.com/divx/download/
Wow, some luck fans will never have to work a day in their life again. The won the the dumb millionare jock lottery. Intice anger, get punched in the face and have the checks sent to direct deposit.
Disagree. It was a flagrant foul, the whistle was blown. If Wallace had not kicked off the whole brouha with the neck-shove he would have had two shots, which is the penalty for the foul.
Those fans getting beat on by NBA players will be retiring early with major bling bling.
I saw many more fans beating on players than I saw players beating on fans. I think some of the fans should be arrested for assault.
That was the exact impression I got last night and I'd never laid eyes on him before.
Who did he play for/with?
I heard that too. I thought the ESPN crew had nothing bad to say about the players. They were outraged at the fans only. Maybe they were using a racial lens to see through.
I just caught the tail end of some piston player making a snide remark about hockey fans?did i hear right??
15 games for Artest and Jackson, with O'Neal at 5 and Wallace at 2.
A poster from Freerepublic suggested last night that each be sent to Sudan and then into the Dar-fur region on a moped to negotiate peace.
Last night Smith was all about blaming the fans, drunk or not. Today, he told Tony that with all night to think about it, he decided that players "should never" go into the stands, therefore it was the players fault--NOT the fans.
Some have speculated, and I agree that he knew what punishment was coming down and wanted to sound on the "right side". Or, Stern said that it too much blame the fans stuff is said, then there could be a fan revolt by not buying those $100+ per seat tickets or they might be more violent. I don't know, but I find it hard to believe he just thought it over and changed his mind--he was pretty adament last night!
It seemed to me his comments were intent on blaming the Pacers and not his players or the fans. He claimed Artest and Jackson were "acting silly" and then said (incredibly) "we all should have gone into the stands".
FWIW, Rick Carlisle said something equaly stupid. "I thought our guys were showing restraint."
Artest not only picked the wrong fan, he picked the smallest and most vulnerable looking.
A coward to the end!
Perhaps the coaches should be suspended for not being able to restrain their players.
When the players were fighting each other on the court, that was one thing, but Brown and Carlisle should have been able to get the players to the locker room before it moved to the stands.
After, all the dems demanded Rumsfeld get fired over Abu Gharib because those soldiers didn't act within the rules.
Hurling beer may be a little tacky but it doesn't hurt anyone.
Going up into the stands and punching out bystanders is inexcusable. I hope major lawsuits ensue and I hate lawsuits.
He had no idea who threw the thing to begin with but even if he did there is NO EXCUSE!
No! No! No!
No condemning of the fans. I would have paid $3 for a beer for the pleasure of pouring it on those idiots.
When you start condemning the fans at all you start to create a justification for what the players did.
There is NO justification. They are spoiled, mean idiots and it's getting worse.
Economy must be pretty good if these boobs can spend 50-100 clams on tickets to watch this dreck and then waste $5 cups of beer by throwing it at the players
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