Coincidentally, I am reading "The Punch" by Feinstein right now. Only about a third of the way through, but according to Kermit's agent back then, part of the reason he reacted to Rudy running up behind him like that was because he was involved in a fight as a kid in which he got his arms tied up by someone, and another person came up from behind and knocked him out. Apparently he had developed a reflex to people approaching him from behind in fights. Of course, the video shows that he was facing Rudy for plenty of time before hitting him to realize Rudy was not after him.
if you're still holding a grudge about a sucker punch in a fight over 30 years ago on an NBA court, well I don't know what to say. I'm sure Kermit didn't think he would almost kill the guy
I'm sure he didn't think that. However, that doesn't change the fact that he almost killed someone. Our prisons are full of people who didn't think that the store clerk would get shot or that driving under the influence would lead to someone dying or that hitting your wife a few times would remove her from this world. What someone thought would happen (I should say "not happen" because they always claim they didn't think it could happen) when they committed an act of aggression means nothing. They chose to engage in aggressive actions and must live with the consequences of that decision. He could have dodged, he could have tackled Rudy, he could have run away, he could have done a number of things. He even had a few seconds to make a decision. But no. He planted his feet and swung with all his strength at Rudy's face. He just needs to go away.
Go away? What has he been doing that has caused you to say that? I don't mean to defend Kermit, but Rudy has forgiven him and I think everyone else probably should too. He did a terrible thing in the heat of the moment in a fight that was started by someone else. Fights were the norm in the NBA at that time, and this one got carried away. There is no excuse for what he did, but 30 years later it is beyond time to let it go.
Same here. Kermit was a grade A Asswipe when he played. He had a choice of what type of player he could have been. He made the choice to be a d**kwad and deserves everything that happened to him.
To the OP. If you are really interested read "The Punch". It is a good read and will give you all the insight you need. It definitely changed the NBA. The whole incident was tragic and Kermit has suffered a lot for his actions. I think he has grown into a better man over the years. A lot of water under the bridge.
Seems like Rudy himself has forgiven Washington but here you are talking about how "he just needs to go away". Something wrong there...
(Rudy is all class and I admire him a great deal. This post is in no way meant to disparage him, though it will probably sound that way. This is just another consequence of Kermit's actions that night... we end up talking about Rudy as much as Kermit which is ridiculous, but so be it.) Regarding the forgiveness, what do you expect Rudy to say? He's a public figure, a famous coach, a role model, an icon. If he came out and said, "Hell no I can never forgive that b*stard," it would look horrible and upset a bunch of people. I suspect Rudy has, on some level, forgiven Kermit as he says. I also suspect, that being a human with complex emotions and thoughts, he has not forgiven Kermit on some level. None of us know for sure because we're not Rudy and Rudy has given the only public answer he can to that question. Now, regarding the "go away" comment. I've been following this since it happened and as I remarked in an earlier post, every few years you'll see some new story come out on the topic... but it's always from Kermit's perspective and about Kermit and how Kermit is coping with the whole unfairness of it all. Rudy is interviewed (if at all) in response to Kermit or as a sidebar to the story. So, I don't want to read that same story in another year or two. I want him to go away and quit looking for sympathy.
F*** THE LAKERS Decades later, they still do that crap. Look at how they lost to the Mavs - throwing cheap punches, flagrant fouls, and suspensions. I say again, F*** THE LAKERS
