Originally Posted by tk13:
It's one thing if you get in a fight here and there. The guy was the catalyst for possibly the worst US sports debacle in recent history. That's never going off his record. And I'm not sure it should.
Funny, I thought the guy throwing the coke on him was. So you embrace scarlet legislation as it relates to players.
Originally Posted by tk13:
It's one thing if you get in a fight here and there. The guy was the catalyst for possibly the worst US sports debacle in recent history. That's never going off his record. And I'm not sure it should.
No, probably not. But that wouldn't have happened if Ben Wallace didn't overreact to a hard foul and then some idiot in Detroit didn't throw shit on Ron while he had disengaged from the situation. I certainly don't condone going into the crowd to find that guy, but Ron certainly isn't the first professional athlete to do something like that (remember Mike Milbury beating some guy with a shoe in NY?).
To me, what Ron did isn't that much different than when a player clears out on a rebound in frustration to the pressure around him and hits a guy in the head with an elbow. It's a little bit different here because of the sheer force of the hit and the fact that it was during a celebration, but I don't see this as him trying to hurt anybody. He got caught up in the intensity of the situation and lost control.
Originally Posted by KC_Connection:
To me, what Ron did isn't that much different than when a player clears out on a rebound in frustration to the pressure around him and hits a guy in the head with an elbow. It's a little bit different here because of the sheer force of the hit and the fact that it was during a celebration, but I don't see this as him trying to hurt anybody. He got caught up in the intensity of the situation and lost control.
Originally Posted by KC_Connection:
I hate how all these talking heads are talking like because this is Ron Artest, he should be punished more severely than the average player. The Malice in the Palace was nearly a decade ago. It's time to move on, he's significantly changed since then.
Do they really call that the Malice in the Palace?
Was the sporting moment name writer on vacation that week?
I agree with all of that. And the reason he did it is because he lost his mind. Phil Jackson isn't there to drop the zen on him.
I feel embarrassed for wasting 15 seconds of my life typing this post, so I'm not going to argue about it. It's sad anyone would waste their time defending any of this, or the brawl in Detroit. There's nothing justifiable about it, other than to be contrary. Certainly other people deserve fault for their actions too, just like Artest is responsible for what he did. The things he's done are not things mentally well adjusted people do. Sorry.
Originally Posted by tk13:
I agree with all of that. And the reason he did it is because he lost his mind. Phil Jackson isn't there to drop the zen on him.
I feel embarrassed for wasting 15 seconds of my life typing this post, so I'm not going to argue about it. It's sad anyone would waste their time defending any of this, or the brawl in Detroit. There's nothing justifiable about it, other than to be contrary. Certainly other people deserve fault for their actions too, just like Artest is responsible for what he did. The things he's done are not things mentally well adjusted people do. Sorry.
Funny. Wallace, the Pistons, the Detroit fans all get a hall pass when you got Artest as the fall guy. I would be embarrassed if that was my take too.
Wallace, Artest, Stephen Jackson, Jermaine O'Neal... all did things they shouldn't have done that night and deserve everything they got. And the Piston fans were pretty much uncivilized crazy people. Nobody deserves a pass for what happened there. Seems to me like you're the one looking to shift Artest's blame somewhere else.
I actually forgot he got suspended last year in the playoffs for hitting J.J. Berea in the face. He is probably going to get multiple games. I thought he might get some leniency since hasn't done anything in a while, but that's not true.
Originally Posted by tk13:
I agree with all of that. And the reason he did it is because he lost his mind. Phil Jackson isn't there to drop the zen on him.
I feel embarrassed for wasting 15 seconds of my life typing this post, so I'm not going to argue about it. It's sad anyone would waste their time defending any of this, or the brawl in Detroit. There's nothing justifiable about it, other than to be contrary. Certainly other people deserve fault for their actions too, just like Artest is responsible for what he did. The things he's done are not things mentally well adjusted people do. Sorry.
Artest more than served his punishment for his role in that affair. Justifiably or not, he was turned into the scapegoat for that entire situation by the NBA. What he did eight years ago when he was a completely different person, though, should not play into his punishment in this case at all.
Originally Posted by tk13:
Wallace, Artest, Stephen Jackson, Jermaine O'Neal... all did things they shouldn't have done that night and deserve everything they got. And the Piston fans were pretty much uncivilized crazy people. Nobody deserves a pass for what happened there. Seems to me like you're the one looking to shift Artest's blame somewhere else.
What I remember about that night more than anything else was Jermain O'Neal throwing a haymaker and nailing some little fat doughnut eating fan and it not having any effect at all. I will never look at that guy the same again.
I am not making excuses for Artests behavior it just seemed to me that he was throwing an inexcusable elbow at Harden to get him off of him when he never should have been all over him being he was on offense. That being said I am a Lakers fan and could be completely wrong, just my take.
Originally Posted by tk13:
I actually forgot he got suspended last year in the playoffs for hitting J.J. Berea in the face. He is probably going to get multiple games. I thought he might get some leniency since hasn't done anything in a while, but that's not true.
Odd. ESPN just showed a video of all of Artest's past indiscretions and didn't include or even mention the Detroit fight. I wonder if Stern has written it into all the contracts of NBA TV rights holders not to mention or show that night.
