http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/basketball/nba/12/18/brawl.suspensions.ap/index.html NEW YORK (AP) -- The NBA's leading scorer, Carmelo Anthony, has been suspended for 15 games for his part in Saturday night's brawl between the Nuggets and the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Anthony threw a punch during the melee in which all 10 players on the court were ejected. In addition to announcing Anthony's penalty Monday, the NBA also announced the suspensions of Denver's J.R. Smith (10 games) and New York's Nate Robinson (10 games), Mardy Collins (6 games) and Jared Jeffries (4 games). In addition, the Nuggets and Knicks were each fined $500,000. The Knicks' Jerome James and the Nuggets' Nene also were suspended one game each for leaving the bench during the brawl. But there was no separate penalty for Knicks coach Isiah Thomas, who had warned Anthony not to go into the lane before the mayhem started Saturday night. The Knicks' coach had a discussion with Anthony about 20 seconds before Mardy Collins delivered a hard foul on J.R. Smith that triggered the melee. Though Thomas acknowledged telling Anthony not to go into the paint, he said he meant it not as a threat but as a lecture on sportsmanship. "It wasn't necessarily not go to the basket, but basically don't rub it in," Thomas said Monday after New York's shootaround. "It wouldn't be a good idea for you to rub it in and go to the basket and dunk it on our guys. We're down 18, we're down 19, you don't need to act like that. Basically, show some class." After the game, which Denver won 123-100, Thomas and Knicks players were angry that the Nuggets had four starters on the floor with 1:15 to play. And while Thomas wouldn't say if Denver coach George Karl was trying to embarrass the Knicks, he again stressed that starters shouldn't have been in. "I can't speak for him, but he put his players in a tough position," Thomas said. "I think he put his players in a very bad position."
Collins got off lightly. He was the expendable thug that Thomas gave a nod a wink to. Stern should have asked Thomas, "Colonel Jessup, did you order the Code Red?" "Code Red, that's one of my favorite drinks, but I have to avoid it because it would ruin my pearly white sm--" "Colonel Jessup, don't play games with me. Did you order the Code Red?" "You want answers?" "I WANT THE TRUTH!" "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!"
LOL! And you guys b**** about the Rockets and the coaching around here? LOL! Knicks are so awful and unwatchable. Their management from the top down just sucks vacuum style! All down hill after Gundy left! Good job, Coach! A championship will be the sweetest revenge!
Yeah, I was about to post that. But, we still will beat the Nugs. We are a better team. Nugs has a very tough schedule coming up. I see them go 5-10 or even worse in that strech.
Of all the players involved, was Carmelo really the worst offender? It seemed like Nate Robinson was throwing punches and driving people into the stands which put fans at risk. Not to say Carmelo shouldn't get a suspension, but he seemed like a relative bit player in this mess - he threw the one ridiculous punch, but was he involved otherwise?
Melo should not have thrown that punch. It seemed like it was almost dying down in terms of physical contact until he did that. The best part about it though is that he ran away after. He is a punk and I have never liked him. I love nate robinson but he was out of line too. His part looked worse though because he got pulled into the stands.
He definitely hasn't the worst offender, but the NBA has a strict policy against what they call "closed fist" punches. So you can push and shove and wrestle all you want, but once you throw a punch, the NBA will lay down the hammer. The reason is because of the Rudy T incident, when Kermit's sucker punch almost killed him.
what about "closed fisted sissy slaps?", cause thats what it looked like right before the puss* started back peddling faster than michael jackson's moonwalk....
15 games thats all? I thought that after what happened in 2004,this was worthy of a 25 game suspension......
I would equal that foul as "closet fist", if not worse. Because it all started from that cheap shot. The game was out of reach, they can't beat Nuggets playing the game, so when their player was in the air, so Knicks' hit guy just attacked him from the blind side. That cheap was the cause of all of it. 6 games for Collins and 10 games for Robinson? You are kidding me.
Seriously, why were Carmelo and JR hit the worst? Had em both on my fantasy team, but even so... Mardy Gras and Nate Robinson should get equal penalties, they basically started that ****.
