pooh
11-20-2004, 03:38 AM
Link (http://www.indystar.com/articles/9/196249-9919-092.html)
Bob Kravitz
Unreal! This NBA altercation got completely out of control
November 20, 2004
It was, by any measure, one of the most disgraceful moments in the history of the NBA, and one of the worst, and most frightening, in the history of professional sports in America.
The beer will be mopped up and the debris will be swept away soon enough, but the echoes from Friday night's horrible scene at the end of the Pacers-Pistons game will sound for many weeks to come.
The question now is this: How will the NBA clean up this terrible mess? How does the league find fairness in a situation where nearly everybody acted wrongly and, in some cases, criminally?
Even without further review, we know these things will happen:
• Detroit's Ben Wallace, whose overreaction to Ron Artest's foul started the whole mess, will get suspended, probably for five games.
• Artest, who showed admirable restraint during the early moments of the fiasco, will be hit the hardest for retaliating and running into the stands to confront the fans. Even after he escaped the stands, he cold-cocked a Pistons fan who had come onto the floor. We're talking 10 games, minimum.
• Stephen Jackson, who came to Artest's aid and was clearly the most supportive and aggressive of Artest's teammates, also will be looking at five to 10 games.
And there will be more.
A lot more.
From the Pacers and Pistons, from the NBA and from lawyers representing some of the fans who were caught up in the maelstrom.
There were no arrests Friday night, but that doesn't mean there won't be arrests down the road. This one will not end for a long time.
"It's the ugliest thing I've seen as a coach or a player," Pistons coach Larry Brown said after an infamous night that turned into the Throwdown in Motown. (Oh, yeah, the Pacers won . . . like it matters).
How did American sports come to this?
How did a fairly routine NBA altercation turn into the kind of riot we more often associate with minor league hockey?
And where -- where -- was the security at The Palace of Auburn Hills when thugs disguised at fans tossed beer and cups at Artest?
Where were they when Pacers players, led by Artest and Jackson, charged into the stands and engaged those clowns in a barroom brawl?
Where were they when Pacers players and coaches were coming off the court -- the game was smartly canceled after the riot -- and fans threw even more cups and chairs on their heads, endangering livelihoods, endangering lives?
Before NBA commissioner David Stern does anything else, he has got to hold the Pistons' organization accountable for the way things got out of hand Friday night.
How much of a fine is enough?
The damage is done. The trick, now, is making sure this never happens again.
Clearly, Detroit needs more security and/or better security, and that's probably true for almost every sports venue in this country.
The foul that started it all was nothing flagrant, nothing terribly violent. Shoot, by Artest's standards, the late foul on Ben Wallace was a love tap. It was a foul, a garden-variety NBA foul at the end of a hard-fought game between the Pacers and Pistons, but nothing out of the ordinary.
The Pistons center was guilty of a terrible overreaction, and he should get a serious fine and suspension. That said, he can't be blamed for what happened next.
As both teams stood around, posturing and taunting the way NBA players are wont to do, Artest reclined in an almost comical manner on that same table. On this occasion, he was showing great restraint, resisting any temptation to retaliate against Wallace or join the fray nearby.
He couldn't hold back, though, when debris and beer started flying into his face.
What Artest did next, going into the stands to confront the fan, was human nature. Who wouldn't do precisely the same thing?
At the same time, though, his actions cannot be condoned in any form or fashion. It doesn't matter how he was provoked. While we might understand what inspired Artest, we can't condone it, and the league won't let it pass.
It may seem unfair that this was started by Wallace and escalated by fans, yet the Pacers will be hit the hardest by the NBA. But, then, how can you argue? They went into the stands. End of story.
The fear now is what happens Dec. 25, Christmas Day, when these two teams meet again, this time in Indianapolis. Maybe, by that time, things will have settled down between the two organizations, but fans, even the highly civilized ones who fill up the fieldhouse, have very long memories.
This can't happen again.
Although, we know, somewhere, somehow, it will.
Bob Kravitz
Unreal! This NBA altercation got completely out of control
November 20, 2004
It was, by any measure, one of the most disgraceful moments in the history of the NBA, and one of the worst, and most frightening, in the history of professional sports in America.
The beer will be mopped up and the debris will be swept away soon enough, but the echoes from Friday night's horrible scene at the end of the Pacers-Pistons game will sound for many weeks to come.
The question now is this: How will the NBA clean up this terrible mess? How does the league find fairness in a situation where nearly everybody acted wrongly and, in some cases, criminally?
Even without further review, we know these things will happen:
• Detroit's Ben Wallace, whose overreaction to Ron Artest's foul started the whole mess, will get suspended, probably for five games.
• Artest, who showed admirable restraint during the early moments of the fiasco, will be hit the hardest for retaliating and running into the stands to confront the fans. Even after he escaped the stands, he cold-cocked a Pistons fan who had come onto the floor. We're talking 10 games, minimum.
• Stephen Jackson, who came to Artest's aid and was clearly the most supportive and aggressive of Artest's teammates, also will be looking at five to 10 games.
And there will be more.
A lot more.
From the Pacers and Pistons, from the NBA and from lawyers representing some of the fans who were caught up in the maelstrom.
There were no arrests Friday night, but that doesn't mean there won't be arrests down the road. This one will not end for a long time.
"It's the ugliest thing I've seen as a coach or a player," Pistons coach Larry Brown said after an infamous night that turned into the Throwdown in Motown. (Oh, yeah, the Pacers won . . . like it matters).
How did American sports come to this?
How did a fairly routine NBA altercation turn into the kind of riot we more often associate with minor league hockey?
And where -- where -- was the security at The Palace of Auburn Hills when thugs disguised at fans tossed beer and cups at Artest?
Where were they when Pacers players, led by Artest and Jackson, charged into the stands and engaged those clowns in a barroom brawl?
Where were they when Pacers players and coaches were coming off the court -- the game was smartly canceled after the riot -- and fans threw even more cups and chairs on their heads, endangering livelihoods, endangering lives?
Before NBA commissioner David Stern does anything else, he has got to hold the Pistons' organization accountable for the way things got out of hand Friday night.
How much of a fine is enough?
The damage is done. The trick, now, is making sure this never happens again.
Clearly, Detroit needs more security and/or better security, and that's probably true for almost every sports venue in this country.
The foul that started it all was nothing flagrant, nothing terribly violent. Shoot, by Artest's standards, the late foul on Ben Wallace was a love tap. It was a foul, a garden-variety NBA foul at the end of a hard-fought game between the Pacers and Pistons, but nothing out of the ordinary.
The Pistons center was guilty of a terrible overreaction, and he should get a serious fine and suspension. That said, he can't be blamed for what happened next.
As both teams stood around, posturing and taunting the way NBA players are wont to do, Artest reclined in an almost comical manner on that same table. On this occasion, he was showing great restraint, resisting any temptation to retaliate against Wallace or join the fray nearby.
He couldn't hold back, though, when debris and beer started flying into his face.
What Artest did next, going into the stands to confront the fan, was human nature. Who wouldn't do precisely the same thing?
At the same time, though, his actions cannot be condoned in any form or fashion. It doesn't matter how he was provoked. While we might understand what inspired Artest, we can't condone it, and the league won't let it pass.
It may seem unfair that this was started by Wallace and escalated by fans, yet the Pacers will be hit the hardest by the NBA. But, then, how can you argue? They went into the stands. End of story.
The fear now is what happens Dec. 25, Christmas Day, when these two teams meet again, this time in Indianapolis. Maybe, by that time, things will have settled down between the two organizations, but fans, even the highly civilized ones who fill up the fieldhouse, have very long memories.
This can't happen again.
Although, we know, somewhere, somehow, it will.