NBA arena changes after tonight...

[toosmallshoes]

Perhaps the NBA should look into surrounding the court in plexiglass? Or they could surround the court with armed guards. maybe the players could wear ankle bracelets that shock them when they go into the crowd. anybody else have a suggestion?

[Slomo]

maybe the players could wear ankle bracelets that shock them when they go into the crowd
:lol
And on really slow nights they could put control of the bracelets on-line for 4,99$/minutes.

[toosmallshoes]

well there's a great idea for a cheat code on the next ea sports basketball game.

[tsb2000]

I'm thinking every NBA city has just doubled their police requirement at the games. I don't think it will be as bad as everyone thinks (as far as punishments go), but I think David Stern may look to make an example out of either Artest, Sjax, or O'Neal- player's association be damned. There will be a lot of civil suits as well- we can bet on it.

[boutons]

One of the FANtastic aspects, joys, advantages of basketball is its uniqueness in how close the fans can be to the players on the court.

No beer in the arena is the easiest, least obtrusive, most immediate solution, at least in those arenas known to have problems, and between teams with intense rivalries (DET / IND seems to have instantly become one of those rivalries). Tough shit for the 99% of the fans who are legit drinkers. The 1% baddies always screw the 99% legit.

In Europe, "hooligans" and general fan loutishness and criminality (throwing coins, bolts and nuts, batteries) caused the plastic "bus stops" to be installed around team benches. But any structure around basketball teams would be a huge degradation in the experience for legit fans, but that's the way American culture is going, downhill.

[fonzy16]

Stern can give Artest that "holiday" he needs.

[tsb2000]

The thing is that neither the teams nor the NBA owns the concessions at most arenas. There are contracts made with other companies to serve the food and drinks (I know that is the case in Phoenix where I live). The people selling beer are going to be ticked if the NBA lays down that mandate. The companies selling beer will sue for lost revenue and breach of contract. That would get really ugly if something like that were to go league-wide. I really hope the NBA doesn't punish decent fans in other cities for the actions of a bunch of shmos in Detroit.

[spurster]

For beer, all they need to do is to stop selling it in the stands. It's hard to get drunk when you have to wait in line 15-30 minutes each time.

For fans, they need to insist on better behavior. If they crack down on noisemakers and taunting and swearing at players, that will make it clear that they expect fans to stay in line.

For players, they need to start levying Cubanesque fines in addition to suspensions. Take a few million out of Artest's paycheck and he'll be sure to notice.

[SequSpur]

Eliminating beer sales doesn't solve anything. Artest went into the stands. Then all hell broke loose.

How about eliminating Artest? This seems like the most logical choice. Dude is worse than Dennis Rodman.