Thumbs...that type of retaliation happens probably 4 or 5 times a night in the NBA throughout thwe league. If it goes too far, both players are "T-ed" up and tossed...but blaming Wallace's retaliation for this riot (let's remember that it was the PACERS who were up by 15...so why foul at all...let alone commita flagrant) is like blaming the guy who passed Wallace the ball since the game was in hand.
How? Exactly how many places are there with enough classless enough fans to try this? And how many players are going to jump into the stands? Not many in either case. I'm sure players have had stuff thrown at them before, but this is the first time any player has been stupid enough to jump into the stand to react to it. As far as Wallace ... if he actually got 10 games then I think it was just. His actions were over the top, but he isn't responsible for the crowds or Artests actions. The difference between what he did and what the Pacers who will get suspended(jumping into the stands and punching fans) is miles apart.
You are making a large assumption that Wallace's throwing of his sweatband incited that fan, especially since the fan threw his cup long after Wallace threw his sweatband. Its not reasonable to assume a crowd will riot after a player throws something at another player. It is reasonable to assume a crowd will riot when you essentially go into the stands and retaliate against them.
After watching the video, I kind of think that O'Neal's act was the most cowardly and dangerous: - the guy he hit was being restrained or helped off the floor or something - he was at that moment not in an attacking mode - the guy was much shorter, weaker and fatter than him - O'Neal came running from a long distance and if he had not slipped, he would have hit the guy even much harder - he went straight for the head/face, this was very dangerous
Unfortunately, there are lots of teams with lots of classless fans. And there is a growing number of players with tempers like J.R. Rider, Bonzi Wells, Vernon Maxwell, Latrell Sprewell, etc. who live on the edge just waiting for their fuses to be lit. Also, look at the destructive riots in Los Angeles, Boston and other cities when their teams won. Without punishing Detroit as much as the Pacers, those "fans" win without any punishment. Rather, Detroit's crowd behavior is rewarded and the old axiom of "monkey see, monkey do" will be applied by other crowds in other cities.
Aside from punishing the fans who threw things, why would it be fair to punish the rest of the fans or Detroit's players? Their players, did not charge into the stands and the vast majority of the fans didn't throw anything.
I think they should punish the city for having idiot fans. The Pacers season is ruined if those suspensions are true. I think Detroit should be docked 5-10 wins (add 5-10 losses to their final record) or lose a couple of draft picks. Its true you must show the players that you can't charge into the stands. The NBA also needs to show idiot fans that they can't change the course of the season and playoffs by throwing bottles and inciting riots.
I agree with this. In soccer, teams are often punished for their fans' behaviour, losing home advantage, having to play at a neutral venue and getting fined. It is somewhat unfair to the team management who have little control over the fans, but the concept of "team" includes the fans when making such judgements, and I think thats a good idea. The fans have an interest in their team doing well, and getting to watch teh games. Taking this away from them is a deterrent from unruly behaviour. Artest and co will get what they deserve, but something has to be done to discourage this kind of crowd behaviour.
This is a valid point. However, Stern must find some way to curb this kind of behavior. Punishing the offending crowd's team seems the only sensible way to prevent future episodes. When Detroit players get pelted -- and possibly injured -- by retaliatory Indiana fans, what will be their punishment? My point is that Stern must set an example to ward off future incidents. It may seem unfair to Detroit as a whole, but, if future riots are thus avoided, Detroit will have to be the scapegoat.
The problem is, will all the fans, or even the majority of the fans who participated in the pelting of stuff be held accountable for their actions? In a perfect world it would be enough, but chances are, many will go away without punishment. I think treating the whole organisation (which includes fans, management, players) accountable will help deter future behaviour. It will also be in the interest of management to take whatever steps they can to prevent something like that from happening again. It's not like Indiana's fans aren't suffering either. Imagine if you're a season ticket holder, having to watch their depleted team struggle for so many games. Indiana's fans have their players to blame. And the detroit players have their unruly fans to blame.
With the suspension now in, its a matter of time b/f the lawsuits being filed...I see the guy that got attacked from Artest (didn't throw the bottle) and even the guy that got hit from Jackson & O'Neil...If a punch was thrown and landed, $$$ Also, the suspension were right on, but I'm not sure how the appeal process would work, if anyone did appeal it...
It seemed like a lot of the fans were throwing things. Among the festivities: Guys punching players who were trying to break it up/pull guys apart in the back of the head. Throwing beers/drinks at every player they could on the court. Coming out onto the court to fight with players. Emptying whole drinks on players/security leaving the arena. etc., etc. Those fans deserve just as much punishment as anyone else. There was a great deal of stupidity there that night...and it wasn't all coming from the players.
The fat guy who Artest, O'neal and the assistant coach slugged is gonna make a lot of money. Artest should be suspended for the whole year, the guy is a thug, the game is better off without him. Stephen Jackson going into the stands and slugging deserves at least 20 games, O'neal the same for hitting that guy from the side for no reason. Wallace 2-3 games for the shove etc. Dispicable behaviour by the fans and the players...just terrible. Charges should be filed on Artest, O'neal, Jackson & any of the fans that threw stuff at the players and can be identified. DD
Honestly, there is nothing thats going to deter an unruly fan from throwing stuff onto the field if he wants to, aside from assigning one security guard to each fan, which will obviously never happen. Unruly fans, for the most part, tend to be isolated incidents and its up to the players to not respond to that, and escalate the situation. The policy of the NBA should be, if one fan throws something onto the court, then that fan is ejected and barred from the arena forever. If multiple fans do it, then the refs and players are sent to the locker room until order is restored. If order can't be restored, then the home team forfeits, whether they are up by 15 or down by 15. I don't think the NBA can do much better than that, other than to stop selling alcohol. Then you have to stop alcohol sales, period. No matter how much you punish the home team, you will ALWAYS have isolated incidents where fans misbehave.
And every single one of those fans should be brought to justice and barred from the arena/have their season tickets revoked if and/or when they are indetified.
ok. No way I'm going to read through all the posts, but my opinion is: A. Security is not at fault. What happened was sudden and could not have been prevented. Masses could overwhelm security anyway. There was little they could do. B. Mark Jackson is an idiot. He said he would cold **** anyone who disrespected him. I think that's wrong. You walk away. And you call in someone to remove the disrespecting fellow. You don't fight over words unless someone yells fire in a crowded room. Then maybe you take the sucker down. C. Artest needed to walkaway regardless of what he was hit with, plastic, or metal. When you are in an unsafe place you get away from it. They teach the same thing to divers. You get out of there. He did the right thing after Wallace smacked him. Then he lost it later. D. Wallace started the whole thing. He could have walked away. He made it physical. E. Artest is ****ed. At least 40 days in my opinion. F. What is going to happen is that the whole thing will get blown out of proportion. These events are like terrorist attacks. They cannot be prevented. They can only be contained. G. Ok. I'm out.
Artest started the riot, he could easily laughed off the bottle being thrown at him and let security arrest the fan. Instead he has to act like a baby. I put all the blame on him for starting this. He is supposed to be the professional, not the fan.
I have to disagree with you here. By the time Ron Artest got up there, security should have already been escorting the fan (who threw the bottle) out of the building.
About 2-3 seconds passed between the time Artest was hit with the cup and the time he was in the stands assaulting that fan. Artest didn't even give security time to do its job.
