November 22, 2004

Did The NBA Choke In Their Response To The Brawl?

The Ron Artest show just keeps on going and going and going. 

Right now it seems like he’s hit a new low.  Artest is no stranger to suspensions, brushes with the law, NBA officials, coaches, framed pictures and television monitors. Just a couple of weeks ago, Indiana Pacer Head Coach Rick Carlisle suspended the mercurial forward for conduct detrimental to the integrity of the team, but did not specify exactly what this conduct was.  When the press first reached Artest, he initially declared that he did not understand the meaning of the word integrity, something that should surprise no one who has followed the career of the reigning defensive player of the year.  After he was (mildly) pressed, he admitted that he had asked Carlisle for some time off, as he was too tired from producing a Hip-Hop album to properly compete in the NBA.

Well, in one of the most bizarre and awful ways, Artest will now get his wish.

The punishments for the players involved in Friday night’s melee between the Pacers, Pistons and what seemed like the entire city of Detroit have been announced and it’s a little more harsh than a simple slap of the wrist.  Artest has been suspended for the remainder of the season, Pacers guard Stephen Jackson and forward Jermaine O’Neal, who followed Artest into the crowd and fought with several fans, will be out for 30 and 25 games respectively. Indiana guard Anthony Johnson was suspended for five games and Pistons Center Ben Wallace, who, arguably, started the incident by taking offense to a hard foul by Artest, will be out of the Pistons lineup for six games.  Three other Pistons and the injured Reggie Miller were suspended for one game each for leaving the bench area during a fight.

Now I don’t want anyone to think that I am condoning what happened on Friday night in any way. The incident was one of the most horrible things to ever happen to the NBA.  The camera shot that got to me the most was that of O’Neal swinging wildly as he was being pushed off the court by a throng of fans and security, debris being thrown at him all the while.  As I sit here watching the Celtics and the Sonics in Boston’s first game following the madness in Detroit, it’s truly frightening to imagine the same thing happening here, with so many little children and even some loyal senior citizens present.

But the fact is, Artest has been suspended for the same amount of time as Latrell Sprewell ultimately was for choking his coach, P.J. Carlesimo. That situation was unique because Sprewell initially choked Carlesimo in the heat of the moment during practice, barged into the general manager’s office and demanded a trade, and then returned to the practice floor and once again attacked the coach. While one could claim some sort of temporary insanity following the first violent act, the second was premeditated, which was not the case with Artest.  This is the distinction that should be drawn here.

Artests’ actions, while despicable on so many levels, was quite obviously not thought out in advance. Watch it again on camera. Artest was lying on the scorers table, willing to let Wallace’s shove go without retaliation when a cup of something flew and hit him on the face and chest.  It was only at this point that Artest went berserk. His response was awful, but he was provoked.

The NBA Commissioner David Stern is no doubt trying to set a precedent by the season long suspension of Artest, and he is justified in doing so.  Without a doubt, no player, regardless of what is said or done, should ever, ever go into the stands and take matters into his own hands with regards to a fan.  Stern was certainly correct in coming down hard on the players involved instead of trying to make excuses for their actions, because there are none. 

However, the NBA has a responsibility to protect its players as well as the fans.  While everything that happened is indefensible, the league has to understand that Artest reacted to an act of violence—because that is what it was—and did not start the scuffle. Artest did not start the fray, the moronic fan who threw the cup at him did.  Artests’ actions are a notch below Sprewell, who had time to think out what he was doing when he came back and choked his coach that second time.  Had Artest gone through the tunnel to the locker room and then come back to the court to continue in the fray, which would be a different story. That didn’t happen, though, and instead one of the league’s youngest stars and best overall players will not be seen until training camp in 2005. At least now he’ll have time to work on another album.