Some of the attempts to temper this are just lame. "Just wanted to shove him away" - Horse****. Full speed, slow mo, the natural move to get rid of Harden would have been to push him away at contact (left arm to Harden's ribs)...no one would try and knock a guy away by winding up not just the arm but their entire torso. And then Artest swims the elbow high to get to the head. Did he intend to knock him out? Probably not, but he was intentionally trying to land a blow to the skull. To play innocent after, especially after squaring off with Ibaka, is just pathetic. Like others have said, what Harden did happens a dozen times every game in the league. No one is asking for a concussion when they bump a guy. That Ron is a nice guy off the court doesn't mean a damn thing. Zero place for it in the game. I'm still bothered that the NBA never cracked down on Karl Malone for his cheap shot elbows.
He wasn't even looking in Harden's direct so I'm going with no pre-meditation. It wasn't like he was staring him down and punching.
Season-ending suspension please. Ibaka should've floored him just like Big Ben. Then again playoffs is more important than meager fighting.
Was it a intentional elbow off course it was Was it a intended to hit Harden that hard in the head, I doubt it. Artest was probably just like get the **** off me while I do the chest pump thing, the adrenaline was pumping, probably swung way harder than he intended. He wasn't even looking at Harden when he landed it.
RonRon made the biggest contribution to his team getting the victory today. Dude is just a winner. Harden had no business interrupting the man's celebration.
7 games? I thinking lifetime ban. He's just too out of control and he wasn't even remorseful. He needs to go to the loony bin.
personally i'd suspend harden for ruining a perfectly good celebration. that could have been a "where amazing happens" commercial video and now it's just another video of harden flopping around after minor contact.
