**OFFICIAL** Pistons/Pacers Suspensions

[Turfzilla]

What a freakin' hook by O'neal... DA*M...

 

[isasir]

Originally posted by: SP33Demon
Wrong. Players get hit with popcorn, beer, and CELL PHONES. And yet, somehow every professional sports player (99.8%) have controlled themselves and not jumped into the stands like a raging bull, randomly attacking the first person he sees. That fan who threw it is likely in jail tonight, as well as the guy who came down on the floor trolling for a payday. A player cannot attack ANY fan unless that fan comes down on the court. Can't take verbal lashings, or beer sprayed on you? Then you shouldn't be a professional player. It comes with the territory and is a common occurence.

While I'm not condoning Artest's behavior, basketball is one of, if not the only sport where the fans are so close to the action. In about 8 steps Artest was able to reach the first guy. It's a bit harder for someone like Everett to turn around, leap a fence and jump into a crowd, especially when he doesn't even know who threw the phone in the first place.

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: Lash444

Originally posted by: sniperruff

Originally posted by: bR

First of all you're a Pistons fan...

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So there is just no way you would look at this objectively with that kind of bias. You probably won't say the same thing if you're a Pacers fan, and if you tell me you will, I think you're full of sh*t. 😀

excellent point. i don't see the difference between a player pushing another player or a player pushing a fan. big ben should at least have a larger plenty than o'neal and jackson.

I dont know if Ive ever seen a more retarded post in my life.

haha, thats exactly what I was thinking as I am reading down this thread. if you can't see the difference ... well ugh, you are just an idiot.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: Playmaker
Here's my opinion, and I'm likely about as unbiased as you will find...

Ben Wallace - overboard, a standard 2 game heavy shove suspension is adequate, it doesn't matter what it led to

O'Neal - completely overboard, Vernon Maxwell entered the stands to beat a fan and got 10 games, O'Neal punched a fan that was getting up in the direction of one of his teammates ON THE COURT, he should get 8 games, 10 max

Jackson - 30 games is reasonable here, no major priors and he entered the stands with less provocation than Artest

Artest - should be 25 games, extreme provocation, DID NOT PUNCH until the bald fatass in the blue shirt punched at him, he was just holding the guy he thought threw the cup down asking if he did it, NOT assault IMO, and once he was being punched it's self-defense, when he was back on the court those 2 short, fat guys in Pistons jerseys came at him and he defended himself ON THE COURT, nothing wrong with that

Legal issues...fans that can be identified throwing bottles should get misdemeanor assault. Artest should get disturbing the peace, no assault, however, as every punch he threw that would constitute assault was at that point in self-defense. O'Neal has no fault as his was in defense of, it not himself, a teammate on the court. The only other player to have a criminal violation is Jackson who I think could possible go up for assault and battery for hitting that first fan behind Artest up in the stands. In my opinion that is also the only fan that should have any civil court claim, which would be against Jackson. Any other civil lawsuit is complete bullshit and should be thrown out.

The player's association better stand behind Artest and at least bring it to arbitration. If he doesn't get to come back this season, he should at least receive part of his salary.

Finally, this is almost a guarantee that Stern's fascist reign as NBA commisioner will be over. His contract is up next year I believe, and there is NO WAY he could be coming back after fvcking this up so badly.

edit: spelling

I agree with most of what you said.

BUT watch the film agian. Artest was not acting in self-defence. the guy he attacked was not the one that threw the beer. That guy was just laughing and acting like a idiot but in no way did he throw something at artest.

Artest got what he deserved. He got into the stands and started attacking people. NOT even the ones that threw the beer at him! he had NO CLUE who did it yet attacked people. I hope the fan he attacked sues artest for a huge amount of money. I also hope they charge Artest and jackson.

I also hope they figure out who threw the beer and charge him and bar him from any NBA game ever (yes i know impossible). Crap like this does not need to happen.

 

[knoxweather]

Here is my take on this issue and I'm sure some in here agree. We need to start taking control of the fans. The NBA is sending a bad message to the players by giving them crazy suspensions. How is it fine for a fan to come down on the court into there place of business and how is it fine for a fan to trough objects down onto the court. The fans at Detroit need to be put in jail and fined there selfs. The message needs to be given to them as it has been to the players in the NBA. I'm not a fan of either team, but I'm not after that I don't think I will ever be a Detroit fan.

 

[Playmaker]

BUT watch the film agian. Artest was not acting in self-defence. the guy he attacked was not the one that threw the beer. That guy was just laughing and acting like a idiot but in no way did he throw something at artest.

No. The guy he thought threw the beer and he was HOLDING HIM DOWN asking him if he did it, perhaps until security arrived (unlikely, yes, but just as likely as any other reason). He NEVER punched that guy or made any motion to inflict bodily harm in my opinion. If that is in fact an attempt at bodily harm then this is a fvkced up society where you can't even hold someone down that is throwing things at you in your place of work until authorities arrive. He did punch the fat bald guy in the blue shirt AFTER he started punching Artest.

Also, while I don't believe the security at the Palace caused what happened, I do that the situation would not happen in 99% of other arenas where they have security between the scorer's table and the crowd watching the crowd. The lack of such standard security caused a scenario where Artest has lost $5mm in wages. I know there are more than a few civil lawyers out there that would love to tackle that one...