How much did race/culture play into the NY/DEN suspension?

I think it has more to do with the media blowing the whole thing out of proportion and the league having to react to that and come down with a heavy hand.

 

I think it plays a factor. Obviously fights happened a lot more in the eighties and people seemed to have less of a problem with it. obviously brawls happen in baseball seemingly a couple of times of year and it doesn't draw the response.

I think another thing is religion but I'm not sure how to quantify it. I think a lot more people claim to be christians now a days and fighting in sports has become less acceptable to fans.

alot of it is the media. there are so many sports outlets and they have to feed themselves with stories. twenty years ago this would be a one day story.

 

I voted small influence, but I really wanted the "No clue what goes on in David Stern's Napoleon-complex little head" choice.

 

Who gives a sh*t about race? Oh, yeah, Najera didn't get suspended.

 

I would suggest that the Pacers-Pistons-Crowd brawl probably affected this more than anything else. I think that has made them intensely afraid that bench clearing brawls may spill over into the fans which hurts the league (and scares the league officials) many, many times more than fights between players.

If that fight had never occured they wouldn't be anywhere near as harsh with the suspensions.

 

Race may have something to do with it, but I'd think the biggest factor is the IND/DET fight.

I mean, last I checked, Larry Johnson and Alonzo Mourning were (and probably still are) black. Hip hop was also pretty big in the late 90s.

 

This could be the dumbest thing I've heard in the longest time.

Are you seriously suggesting that acting like Junior High punk kids on a playground is a cultural thing?

Evan

 

You're basically calling the NBA racist, and you don't want this in D&D? OK...

Personally, I think that if Luke Walton had thrown Vasillis Spanoulis to the ground and Steve Novak had come in and decked Vladimir Radmanovic, that suspensions would have been just as long...

 

I agree, this had nothing to do with race, why does everyone always have to drag the race issue into everything

 

Big Influence

I got 2 words: Ice Hockey

 

Dang Greeks, always wanting to do GrecoRoman Wrestling...

 

You're comparing hockey to basketball?

Wow...for once in my life, I am completely speechless. Either that, or my sarcasm detector needs new batteries...

 

that's not what he said. the culture isn't the culture of the nba, the culture is the general public and how they perceive the nba.

fights were a lot worse in the eighties. I remember one fight when larry bird was being held as he was being punched by dr. j. I doubt anyone received 15 games suspensions. the nba is clearly trying to clean up its image with a zero tolerance on fighting. but why is that. what caused the change in attitude. its a legitimate topic and I doubt its the dumbest thing you've ever heard.

 

Walton and Spanoulis would get the same suspension because the NBA doesn't want to appear hypocritical in the way they exert their authority. However, if most of the players were white, they would be suspended a game or 2. We have proof of it. It's called hockey


The league may not be racist, but their constituents don't like black men with exposed tattoos spill the beer of a nice rich white front row spectator or upset TV watchers

 

what about baseball, less of a contact sport than basketball.

 

I think the question would be better phrased as "Did the NBA's concern about its public image affect the length of the suspensions?" I voted 'huge' but that's not because of race or culture, just image. After the Palace melee, I think Sternbot is paranoid that players will get so out of control during an on-court fight they'll start another fight with fans, so he leans all the way towards the extreme end. Kind of like how those UK bombers tried to use liquid explosives on planes, and for a while all liquids were banned from planes entirely, even water. Then they reached a compromise which doesn't make anyone safer and annoys everyone. But I digress.

It's kinda ridiculous, though, it's not like the NFL has behavioral problems or anything and their image is just fine. TO is treated by the media as though he's an anomalous figure who doesn't represent the NFL in any way and yet he's one of the most recognized players in the league and possibly in all of American sports. Meanwhile, I bet half the people who don't follow the NBA closely can't even name Melo's jersey number, but he throws one punch on the court and those people say that his sucker-punchy ways represent the entirety of the NBA. Let's not even get into the Bengals.

Semi-related, but this is how you throw a punch on the court. You know how many games Christie got for that sweet hit? Two. Next time they play the Knicks, Melo should emulate how Doug Christie did it. Hell, while Melo has all this free time, he should go find Rick Fox and practice uppercuts on him for a month.

 

wtf?

I got 3 words: apples and oranges

since when has it been accepted in basketball to have a fight with your opponent like in hockey? secondly, are they being racist in hockey now that they are trying to weed the thuggery out?

finally, how in the hell is it racist to get fighting out of a non violent sport? try to find me one black commentator who will say these suspensions are over the line and stern is being partially racist by cracking the whip on thuggish behavior.

was it racist when stern implimented the no whining rules this year that had heavy consequences behind them for violations?

 

What's the difference between this NBA fight that occurs once ina blue moon and a NHL fight that happens every day?

 

Dude, seriously...just stop typing...