Third Offense, 5-Game Suspension, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!

So...you think Barea purposely landed on his exposed side?

There's a reason why plays like that are punished nowadays. Regardless of how irreversibly jaded you are, the chance for injury on plays like those is ridiculously high. Consider how Rondo injured his arm the other day: he simply fell awkwardly to the ground while standing. Look at Andrew Bogut's injury from last year to see what an awkward landing can do at high elevation. A 7 foot, 270 pounder shoving an elbow into your ribs with all his weight at the height of your ascent will absolutely destroy your equilibrium, especially when you're half his weight. How anybody can fail to see the inherent danger is beyond me. How anybody can defend a repeat offender that shows no remorse perplexes me even still.

You can pull the "BUT IN THE GOOD OL DAYS" card all you want. There was also a time when the majority of players now in the NBA would be slaves. Doesn't make it right.

 

Jose Barea could not brace his fall in that situation.

 

Well, I don't believe in punishing people for past offenses. If he gets a 5 game suspension, so should the most innocent player in the league, imo. I think that's sort of a philosophical difference. If the hit was 20-game suspension worthy, people shouldn't be upset if Scola get's the same on one of his many cheap shots.

And, I doubt Bynum hit Barea thinking "I'm going to go after his lungs so I can injure him and possibly end his career or life." He was more likely thinking "We're getting destoyed, I'm mad, and I'm gonna stop this guy from scoring on us. If I foul him hard maybe they'll take jumpshots the rest of the night."

Look, I'm not defending Bynum at all. What he did was dirty and he deserves every bit of that ~$700,000 fine. What I said about Barea falling wasn't meant to make light of the hit he absorbed. It was more of me doing the opposite with the elbow Magic rocked Isiah with, just because he didn't fall to the floor doesn't mean it wasn't painful and dangerous. A player of this era would have been on the floor.

I wouldn't defend Magic for what he did on that play either. The video LongTimeFan posted is just a tool to give fans some perspective on the precedence on these type of dirty plays. Relative to past punishments for similar acts, Bynum isn't getting off easy. Now, if you guys think the punishment for such plays needs to be more harsh, in general, that's another topic. But, I suspect everyones tone would be a little different if this were a more likable guy or a Rocket.

 

Hadn't seen the video until just now. There is a big difference between accidental hard contact and intentional hard contact. This was clearly intentional, and clearly dangerous. Someone in an earlier post said that guys are "falling down" all the time, so the way he landed shouldn't matter in regards to "how bad" this was. I completely disagree. Would you say the same thing about a guy who undercuts someone (intentionally) when they go up for a basket? If you would, have you ever had it happen to you? (Very unlikely.) And what would you have said if this actually had resulted in Barea breaking his hip and ultimately ending his career? Same punishment?

Dangerous, intentional, and repeat offender. I would definitely have sent a stronger message than what was given. And for those of you who think guys need to "man up" and stop playing so soft, there's a big difference between hard-fouling a guy on the arm or chest, or a rough bump that wouldn't potentially end someone's career.

 

are you all trying to compare NBA regulations to our justice system???....That ruling was obvious handed down by the same judge that let OJ walk....

 

From league's POV, I think 5-game seems to be quite heavy. However, Bynum's elbow is most disgusting, because it looks like a calculated move to me. He didn't want to stay on the court anymore, so he did that to get himself tossed. Look how calm he was during and after the dirty play. He didn't care about the fine or suspension. He just wanted to quit and save the embarrassment, and he CHOSE to hurt opponent player to achieve that. That's NOT just about NBA, a civil charge should be pressed. But then again, Stern is too powerful, and Dallas certainly would not do something like that, IF they still want to win a championship in the next 100 years.

 

The primary purpose of punishment is to deter something from happening in the future. Repeat offenders deserve stricter punishment/deterrence, because evidently the previous deterrence was not effective enough.

 

to act like a beast or an ape in this case.

 

If you're habitual offender, the deterrent needs to ratchet up until you stop.

 

Horsecrap. "Foul him hard" would mean sliding over, going up and getting full body contact with some marginal play on the ball.

Bynum decided he was going to lay a dirty, punk hit as some sort of "stay out of the lane" message. He literally didn't even look at the ball, let alone pretend to make any play on it. Just kept his feet on the ground and laid a shot into the side of an airborne player.

It's a simple formula: if done on a playground, would it result in an immediate brawl?

YES.

If anyone had done that to a friend of mine playing pickup, there'd be a serious fight.

 

Fixed.

 

Absolutely right, I'd be willing to forego the suspensions if they exile him to the Cavs or Toronto.

 

I completely agree. The punishment should be set at a reasonable severity that prevents anyone from making those type of plays.

Sure, if he doesn't learn his lesson, you might want give him a stiffer penalty but it should be more of a precedent. Players should know if they do this type of thing the league will lay down the law, not "well, it's your first time and no one got injured, you get off with a small fine". The goal is to prevent anyone from doing this, in general, not to just prevent Bynum from doing it again.

 

this.

 

Watch the video. Magic was hitting high, where Isiah's arms were while he was just leaving the floor. That's why the ball was flying out of Isiah's hands. Yes, I'd say that's a flagrant in today's game. But compare that to Bynum's. Bynum hit low at the unprotected ribs while Barea was at the highest point of his jump, totally vulnerable.

The guy is making 14 millions. It's not a direct fine amount. It's a suspension. The amount is high because he has a high salary.

You don't believe repeated offenders are more punishable than first timers?

 

So what about Ron Artest or Gilbert Arenas?

They sure had a hefty suspension. And Stern feeling "threatened" by Arenas sure had a lot to do with his season suspension.

Bynum intentionally harms a person, not even threatening to, and he gets 5 games off?

 

i am a bit upset at the suspension I felt it should have been at least 10 games for his third offense.

It would be one thing if he did that in game 1 to send a message and all but to do it int he fourth quarter in game 4 when they were being blown out down 0-3 bynum knew what he was doing. a 5 game suspension to start the season next year wont mean jack long term for the lakers for the season

if it was 5 games for something he did in the playoffs i believe he should be suspended for the next 5 playoff games the lakers play in so the penalty really effects his team and even if he doesnt have remorse (as he hasnt shown in all 3 incidents - i dont buy that clearly written apology days after the incident) missing 5 regular season games wont matter. Miss 5 playoff games? He may not still care but his team sure as well will and they'll get on his case.


He'll do it again next season but I am pretty sure that next time the Mavs face the lakers next season he'll have something coming to him...I would not play bynum if next seasons 2-3 days before the mavs/lakers play cuban suddenly signs Charles Oakley to a 10-day.

If the league or the Mavs dont get him, karma will

 

Osama bin Bynum

 

f that... i think 25 to life for that ****

 

Carmelo Anthony gets 15 games, for barely hitting a knicks players, for the 1st time, but bynum hits with the elbow and barea could got an injury and only 5 games?

So If a player throws a punch to other player, and fails, he gets like 10 games. Bynum throws an elbow and barea could got hurt, and only 5 games??

And Stern wants to end violence on NBA courts?? with that suspension, I dont think bynum will learn.