Throw Ron Artest out of the league

[Windmilllane]

I found it amusing and disturbing that a fan can just walk on the court and do whatever the hell he wants to. I mean, what an absolute joke of security.

Okay, the NBA is full of punk-ass immature idiots who think they can do whatever they want to do because they have big contracts. But these fans have no right to throw things at them, no matter how much money they spent for a ticket. Both players and fans were totally wrong, and this is certainly a black eye (no pun intended) for the NBA.

 

[MissVelvetDress_75]

how about the guy who walked out on the court with his multi color afro? sorry but I had to laugh at that dude.

 

[Windmilllane]

Ron Artest makes me sick. Here he is, laying on the scorer's table, just chillin and acting like he did nothing wrong. What a jerk. That guy is just a total head case. He epitomizes the thug, punk image of the NBA. I used to say that about Iverson, but this guy is just downright punk who is totally unprofessional. Hey Artest, this isn't the streets.

And we should think about the little kids who had to witness this ugly thing. It's bad enough they have to watch violence on tv and video games. Now they get to see it live and in person. Boy, the NBA took a really major PR hit.

 

[U2democrat]

I found it amusing and disturbing that a fan can just walk on the court and do whatever the hell he wants to. I mean, what an absolute joke of security.

Okay, the NBA is full of punk-ass immature idiots who think they can do whatever they want to do because they have big contracts. But these fans have no right to throw things at them, no matter how much money they spent for a ticket. Both players and fans were totally wrong, and this is certainly a black eye (no pun intended) for the NBA.

I'm with you 100%. Many of these guys have egos the size of their feet, and their maturity level is lower than my own. I miss the glory days of basketball when the Bulls were still a good team.

 

[popacrobat]

i thought it was entertaining. i might have to watch the nba now

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

this is why this event makes me sad as a guy who's involved in the sport of basketball...

the league right now is FILLED with good guys... tim duncan, steve nash, dirk nowitzki, dwayne wade, shaq, ray allen, michael redd, allan houston, etc. etc. etc.

but the majority of the attention from the media and, frankly, from fans, is placed on these a-holes... allen iverson, ron artest, stephon marbury, jermaine o'neal, kobe bryant, the portalnd trailblazers...

tim duncan is as good a role model as you can find... college graduate, well spoken, respectful, clean cut, two time NBA MVP, two time NBA champion... widly considered to be the best all around player in the NBA... yes his jersey is not in the top 10 in jersey sales... he is not amongst the 5 in endorsements. and shit... his jersey is BLACK. black goes with everything.

the nba needs to reevaluate everything after this event... do they really want to go this route with their game, with their product? they need to readjust their thinking big time...




...and it looks like they're thinking about it. ron artest, stephen jackson, jermaine o'neal & ben wallace have all been suspended indefinetly.

 

[U2democrat]

you're right, headache. there are decent players out there and these ego-maniacs put the whole NBA in a negative light.

tim duncan is AWESOME. correct me if i'm wrong but didn't he play for wake? as a major ACC fan i love to see ACC alumns do well.

 

[RademR]

best news of the day. all of them suspended indefinetly. Except Wallace, he should have got a couple games. Now Artest can concentrate on his rap album which no one will buy.

 

[RademR]

Tim Duncan did play for wake forest, and guess what....HE STAYED FOR ALL FOUR SEASONS!! Other young players should look at him and not at Kobe Bryant. Yes, there are great players from high school but the sucess rate is like 20%, maybe lower.

 

[U2democrat]

there IS something about players who stay in college all four years and their behavior in the pros.

 

[Hewson]

Headache I have to take issue with one of your points on this(and no I'm not defending Artest overall): the guy on the playing floor. I've watched the replays over and over(its fascinating and disturbing at the same time). If you watch this guy, he's coming towards Artest, who's heading of the court, back(side) to the guy. The guy is starting to cock his arm to sucker Artest when Artest turns and seeshim and decks him...he deserved it.

 

[anitram]

There is no excuse for going into the stands. Suspend the lot of them.

That asshole Vince Carter spent 10 minutes on TV validating it, saying that if somebody throws a beer bottle at you on the street, wouldn't you fight back?

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

I'm from Michigan and I totally missed this story.

 

[mdw3935]

I feel sorry for all the kids who were there and had to watch that.

 

[If you shout...]

Fuck the players, but fuck the fans, too. Plenty of blame to go around, if you ask me. The fans should be filing some lawsuits, just as should the city of Detroit against some (not all) of those very fans. Stop selling booze, and start REALLY punishing those asshole players, you know? Jesus...if Artest, Jackson, and O'Neil end up with, like, four game suspensions I'm gonna' start a riot of my own.

Also, I'm not sure if anybody knows anything about this...

Did you know that the guy that O'Neil clocked is/was in the hospital? I just saw something about it on a Chicago news broadcast a few hours ago. I don't know what his deal is right now, but he WAS hospitalized. I'm so fucking angry, right now...

And to think...just a day or two ago, I was talking about how I wished my beloved/shitty Bulls should never have traded Artest...!!!! He's a great player, but he's a far greater fuck-head.

 

[anitram]

It's a good day for lawyers in Detroit...

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

And people wonder why I never mention where I'm from.

 

[RademR]

That guy who got clocked by Jermaine Oneal doesnt care about getting laid out because hes getting $$$$$$. it was his friend who went up to Artest, and even he will get paid. He might have went up to him, but Artest swung the real punch first. But anyway, that other guy just got clocked by O'Neil, who didnt even have the beer thrown on him. In a court of law, they dont care about stick up for your teammates, he's getting sued.....it's a happy day for a lot of people who were at that game.

 

[RademR]

I still get upset that the pacers are all put on a pedistal for helping each other out, but when some of the detroit fans jumped in to help out those guys that Artest initially attacked, it's the biggest disgrace to the city of Detroit.

 

[Windmilllane]

I heard Artest got 30 games, and O'Neal and Jackson got 20 games each....

Boy, they got off scot free. Scott Peterson wishes he was so lucky.

 

[popacrobat]

The NBA responded harshly to the fight Friday in Detroit. Ron Artest will not play this year. Stephen Jackson will miss 30 games, Jermaine O'Neal 25, Ben Wallace six and Anthony Johnson five. Four others received one-game suspensions and fines.

 

[Windmilllane]

Bye, Bye Ronnie.. Hope the rap career goes well..

 

[U2Kitten]

Looks like all the Pacers involved are gone for 15 or 30 games, they got the worst of it.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

well the pacers deserved to get the worst of it... it was the pacer players who went into the stands.

these are three of the 5 longest suspensions in NBA history
72- ron artest
68- latrell sprewell
30- stephen jackson
26- kermit washington
25- jermaine o'neal

other guys who have been suspended include from the pistons...
ben wallace- 6 games
chauncey billups- 1 game
eldel campbell- 1 game
derrick coleman- 1 game

pacers
anthony johnson- 5 games
reggie miller- 1 game

all the suspensions will be served at the same time... in other words... even the knicks could beat the pacers now.

 

[anitram]

Frankly, I think that the 1 game suspensions for "automatically leaving the bench" are completely ludicrous. Why is Reggie Miller being suspended for trying to pull the lunatics away from the fans.

No common sense at all.

 

[RademR]

best news I've heard all day, Stern actually stood up and did something right. I'm thinking the players assoc. will appeal and get it cut in half personally, but hope it sticks. Gives the players a lesson, if they suspended him like 10 games, then it could happen again. But now this, a year??? How many millions is he losing? Players wont go into the stands for awhile.

 

[Hewson]

Big Ben deserved longer...his overreaction to the Artest foul precipitated the whole incident.
And whats important now is that many many Detroit Pissed-ons fans lose their season tix rights (if they were season tix holders) and are prosecuted and imprisoned for their actions...the video should help to identify the worst offenders, the 2 clowns who went on the floor and got decked respectively by Artest and O'Neal deserve to be punished, the idiot who started it by throwing the drink at Artest deserves jail time as do several others.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Frankly, I think that the 1 game suspensions for "automatically leaving the bench" are completely ludicrous. Why is Reggie Miller being suspended for trying to pull the lunatics away from the fans.

No common sense at all.

the leaving the bench suspensions were handed out for people who left the bench durring the initial fight between artest and wallace.

the leaving the bench rule has been in effect for a long time now. back in the mid 90s patrick ewing was suspended for one game durring the playoffs for leaving the bench durring a fight between the knicks and the miami heat. ewing didn't get involved in the fight, he merely left the bench. it's a long standing rule and every player knows it... nba, college or high school.

i do have to applaud both reggie miller and rasheed wallace, two guys who used to be some of the most controversial players in the entire league, for trying to be peace makers in this situation. reggie of course is hurt... so his one game suspension will be simple... he'll just come off the injured list one game early, serve the suspensions while still technicaly hurt.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Big Ben deserved longer...his overreaction to the Artest foul precipitated the whole incident.
And whats important now is that many many Detroit Pissed-ons fans lose their season tix rights (if they were season tix holders) and are prosecuted and imprisoned for their actions...the video should help to identify the worst offenders, the 2 clowns who went on the floor and got decked respectively by Artest and O'Neal deserve to be punished, the idiot who started it by throwing the drink at Artest deserves jail time as do several others.

take away what happened after the original brawl and a 6 game suspension is about right, if even a little harsh.


but i have no issue with what ben wallace did... sure, he over-reacted. but anyone who's played competitive basketball knows that the one cardinal sin that you never do is hit a player from behind, without making a play on the ball, while that person is in mid-air. that is exactly what artest did to ben wallace, and can you really blame ben wallace, who never gets into fights and is known to be a great guy, for turning around after getting hit from behind while in mid-air and seeing that the guy who did it is the dirtiest player in the league... what do you do?

yes... ben wallace over-reacted. but his penalty fits his particular over-reaction. normally someone isn't suspended for 6 games without throwing a punch. i mean even as wacky as artest is... if you were ben would you really think that this wackado would storm into the stands?


onto other subjects... how about the pistons winning the game in double overtime with just 5 guys left on the team... everyone else suspended or fouled out... i mean Darko ahd to play... DARKO.

 

[Hewson]

Darko actually scored too, makes him look vastly superior to Carmelo ANthony.

My point on Big Ben is that if Stern and co. want to send a message as they claim, make an example out of him too, I know normally his actions would warrant a 3-5 game suspension, but his attack on Artest set the wheels in motion, so try to prevent more brawls on the floor by suspending him 15 games or so and sending a message to the other thugs that not only is going into the stands unacceptable, but fighting with your opponent won't be tolerated either.