The NBA has taken a serious PR hit, multiple players have been suspended, there is alot of controversy surrounding this. The ESPN analysts and many people here claim they would have reacted the same way. So im curious how people here at clutchfans would have reacted if things were reversed and instead you see... Ron Artest 6 foot 7 210 pounds comes charging up into the stands and body slams someone sitting near you? 1. Sit around and Cheer - This person probably had it coming to him even though your not sure what he did. These are usually the people that might even egg things on even more. 2. Play the Peacemaker - Throw yourself into the fray and try to break things up. 3. Step Back - These are some big guys throwing some round houses time to step back. 4. Angry Fan - Be one of those people thinking WTF!?! start to get angry and want to throw down. To be honest watching the tape of what transpired pissed me off. RArtest could have contacted security and had the person that threw the bottle kicked out of the game and maybe press charges. Instead he decided to charge the stands and get in some licks. For the stupid fans who ran onto the court they got what they deserved. For the stupid players who ran into the stands they should get what they deserved too. An @ss whooping and then some jail time along with the suspensions. If it was you sitting in that section with these players charging into the stands throwing some haymakers would you sit around and do nothing? Not me.. players get emotional but so do fans .. and by jumping over into the stands you have forfeit your safety. I have a feeling next time a player jumps into the stands and tries to mix it up with the fans they are going to get seriously injured and im not just talking about basketball. Its the odds... statistically its bound to happen. J
I'd run away and hope that Arest doesn't mistakingly find me and break me in half. Seriously though, if it was a friend of mine that Artest was wrongly assaulting, Id definitely jump in and try and keep Artest off of him. Otherwise, I wouldn't want any part of getting in the middle of that, unless a child or woman sitting by was in danger.
I would step back as far as possible. Too many innocent people got caught under cross-fire because of lack of alert.
its a tough call.. each option has valid points and watching a fellow fan taking a beating by Artest of all people. I dont think I could sit around, I might get knocked out but I'll get in a few good licks. If it was someone almost anyone other than Artest I dont think this happens. J
This is a great point. Maxwell, Wallace and Artest are the only guys in recent memory to assault a fan in the stands. Its no coincidence that all of them are kind of wacko (although wallace has kind of settled down).
As a fan i would step back unless yes it was a friend of mine or a child or woman could have gotten in the way of getting hurt. Not to defend Artest or anything but he was completely wrong but he didn't appear to want to hurt the guy but looked as though he was yelling at the guy to confirm if he had done it or not. By that time it was too late. I bet most fans there that night had no idea Artest had gotten hit by a beer and probably figured Artest to be rushing mad crazy into the crowd. Yes Artest was definitely wrong, but I feel in my opinion that it's easier to understand why Artest rushed into the stands than it is to understand why some fan would throw their beer in a cowardly manner at a player in the first place. If I was a friend to either person this would be my response to them. Me to Artest: Ron, you shouldn't have done what you did and that was crazy but I can understand why. Me to Fan in hospital: Dude, you got beat down. That's what you get for throwing beer at some big 6'8" 200lb man :teehee: Can I get your nurse for you?
A friend or family member? You go in. Some dumbass who's throwing **** at players -or better yet, at a nutcase like Artest - and/or cheering on another guy who is? Get back, don't let the thing escalate into a riot, and watch the dipsh!t get what he deserves.
as small as i am, i would step back. no need for me to get my ass kicked. if it was my friend artest wrongly went after, i guess i'd have to help him out my health be damned. if it was my friend and my friend threw the beer, i might have to help artest out. i really do wonder what would've happened had other fans not gotten involved. artest only grabbed the guy and pushed him down and asked if it was him. now he may have beat him down anyway, but since the fans got him first, we'll never know. and stephen jackson, he did go flying in right behind artest, but his first action was only after some idiot threw another drink on artest. then he smacked that guy. would he have just tried to break it up if that idiot hadn't gotten in that cheap shot? we'll never know b/c his teammates got to him by that time and held him back. i still think they got too many games b/c neither did anything that much more deserving of suspension than mad max, who actually hit the guy also. oh well i guess.
I am easily excited, I probably would have helped Artest find the guy that did it. "RON, RON, IT'S THE MEXICAN GUY!"
You guys who keep defending Artest or Jackson must have forgotten Rudy's incident. These guys are huge, one punch from them could do serious damage.
Codell's voiced my basic opinion on the issue. I don't want to get jacked by one of those guys or possibly face legal repercussions.
wow I guess im kind of suprised by the responses.. personally I think I would be offended and angered if a player charged into the stands. J
Ageed, those guys are/were headcases. But in Maxwell's defense, I don't know if I would have been able to restrain myself from going after a guy who was making disgusting remarks about my recently stillborn daughter. Are fans to be allowed to say or do any vile thing to the player and expect, at worst, to be escorted out of the arena?
I'd step back, however, if it was a friend of mine or family memeber that didn't do the throwing, i'd have his back...but, if did do it, then I'd not let him get his arse beat up too bad...because, well, he deserves it...
Yeah, I doubt that this would have happened with other players. For one thing, getting doused with beer by Pistons fans has happened before; in the 2002 playoffs in Detroit, then-Celtic Eric Strickland had beer thrown at him as he was entering the locker room at half-time, and he made sure security got the guy. Artest is someone I'd stay away from. He antagonizes players like no one else in the league, and when he does it often escalates to a confrontation or just shoving. What makes him different from trash-talkers like Gary Payton or Antoine Walker is that he's never good-natured about it, and is terrible at psychological warfare; he ends up frustrating himself more than anyone else, and makes many, many enemies... including, it now seems, fans. All of this is too bad, because he is arguably the best swingman in the league. I hear that in person he's actually a nice guy, too.
