Artest suspension (UPDATE: Artest out for the season)

the nba's decision is trash. Artest should be suspended 10-15 games max. Jackson should get around 10 and o'neal 7 games

 

Artest should be in prison for assault. So should O'Neal and Jackson.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1928540

It appears the Indiana Pacers will pay a heavy price for Friday's embarrassing melee.

Ron Artest has been suspended for the season, while teammates Stephen Jackson received a 30-game suspension, and Jermaine O'Neal, a 25-game suspension, ESPN.com's Marc Stein and Insider Chad Ford have learned.

"The penalties issued today deal only with one aspect of this incident -- that of player misconduct. The actions of the players involved wildly exceeded the professionalism and self control that should rarely be accepted from NBA players," commissioner David Stern said in a statement Sunday.

The Detroit Pistons will be without Ben Wallace for six games.

Indiana's Anthony Johnson also received a five-game suspension.

Eldon Campbell, Chauncey Billups and Derrick Coleman, as the Pacers' Reggie Miller each received 1-game suspensions and $35,000 fines for leaving the bench following the initial altercation between Wallace and Artest.

"We must ... not allow our sport to be debased by what seems to be declining expectations for behavior by fans and athletes alike," Stern said in the statement.

Artest, O'Neal and Jackson -- who all threw punches at spectators in the stands or on the court at the end of the nationally televised Pacers-Pistons game -- began serving suspensions Saturday night when the league handed down indefinite bans until specific number of games could be decided upon.

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.

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 remainder of the game. Pacers players were pelted with drinks, popcorn and other debris as they rushed to the locker room. 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.

"He was on top of me, pummeling me," fan Mike Ryan of Clarkston said. "He asked me, 'Did you do it? I said, 'No, man. No!"'

Jackson joined Artest and threw punches at fans, who punched back. At one point, a chair was tossed into the fray.

Security personnel and ushers tried to break it up. Former Pistons player Rick Mahorn, who was seated courtside as a Detroit radio analyst, also stepped in.

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.

 

This has been beaten to death in the other thread.

If the referee, who was badly cut by the airborne water bottle, tackles the bottle thrower, you wouldn't call that self defense?

Do you think he'll be charged in the court room? He'll for sure be suspended by the League(rightfully so), for going in the stands, but should he be charged with assault?

 

Seems rather excessive to me, but the NBA is trying to do the right thing.

I'd be happy if this never happened again, but those fans were acting like douchebags and deserved a beating. The professionals should have had more self-control though. Tough situation all around.

 

YES I did watch the video, quite a few times actually. I never saw Oneal in the stands hitting fans. Maybe I missed him, but I just never saw that. I know there were plenty of Pacer players in the stands but, outside of Artest and Jackson, they were all just trying to break it up. Just like Rasheed Wallace. As for hitting the guy on the court, I'm sorry, but the fan crossed the line and was on the court threatening a player on his team. He may have hit the wrong guy, but ONeal had no way of knowing what the fan was up to. He did what he was supposed to do in that situation - all bets off, defend yourself and your teammates.

 

Prison??

Charge them with assault, punish them with a fine or even some jail time, but prison?

 

Wow, where have I heard this before....oh yeah, in 1977, in defense of Kermit Washington.

 

What about the Indiana assistant coach who punched a fan? He should be fired.

 

A serious question for Texans:

I don't live in Texas, but hear Texan law is pretty hardcore.

Is throwing a cup of water at someone considered assault?

How about a creme pie to a celebrity's face? Does the body guards of the celebrity have the right to tackle the pie thrower on the ground?

These are honest questions, I really don't know the answers to them.

 

I am sure Artest's suspension takes into account the jerk's past indiscretions. With that in mind, I think the suspensions are fair enough. All those players needed to exhibit some self-control and back-off.

Now I just hope the NBA goes after those fans who threw stuff and stepped onto the court (some of whom got what they deserved) in every way possible.

 

prision?

 

I think the suspensions came out on the really harsh side to make headlines that the NBA is doing everything to make sure it never happens again. Then in a few weeks the Players Association will knock those down through negotiations when the spotlight has died down.

 

I really like Ben Wallace, one of my favorite players in the league, but he's a major reason that this thing even happened.

 

What did Reggie Miller do?
And how are they gonna suspend him? Not allow him to sit on the bench in street clothes for 1 game???

 

If the Pacers make it to the playoffs would Artest be allowed to play?

 

It's a mandatory 1-game suspension when you leave the bench during an altercation, which he did even though he was trying to cool everyone off.

 

Good question. I don't know.

 

Leaving the bench is a one game automatic suspension.

 

Ok cool. How does it work in his case since he is on the injured list. Does the suspension start right away or when he returns.