NBA: Why wasn't Ron Artest suspended for longer?

[HemisfairArena]

Rodman was tough and most of what you said but hands down? I disagree because Oakley was a tough SOB and took on anyone out there who tested him, beat up several people and was just as tough as they come. Anthony Mason could be up there too, both on the same team ironically. Rodman was tough though.

Oak was tough but he wasn't smart,,,,hence the Knicks no les. Rodman was a thinking man's bully,,,he would take on Shaq or Jordan,,,he didn't care,,,its why Jordan signed off on trading for him to help him get his 2nd three peat,,,,

[Caltex2]

Artest was deservedly suspended but he didn't deserve the entire season off

Are you kidding me? If I was the commish, I'd have tried to ban him for life and perhaps settle for a compromise of years of suspension.

THIS. A fair punishment would have been 25-30 games for Artest, 10 for Jackson and maybe 5-10 for O'Neal. In addition, Ben Wallace was the instigator, so he should have gotten at least 15 games minimum. It was highway robbery (in the midst of an obvious NBA lovefest with the Pissy-tons) that Detroit emerged relatively unscathed from that. Maybe it would have meant the Spurs beating Miami in 5 instead of Detroit in 7, and the Spurs would have been more rested and Manu wouldn't have committed that tired foul in May 2006. We'll never know, tbh.

The NBA would have faced boycotts if Artest wasn't gone at least for the season. Less than half the season would have been an absolute joke.

[Spurtacular]

I'm referring to the Malice in the Palace.

How did he only get a year suspension? A lifetime ban wouldn't have been extreme imo but I think he should have been suspended from the NBA for at least 5 years. One year didn't give much time for anyone to remember what happened.

This is also about Stephen Jackson but he didn't initiate the incident.

Any more and Artest probably takes it to court and wins and continues the bad publicity for the NBA. Also, he was at the height of his powers and suspending him too long and there's the risk of making him into a sympathetic character.

[Caltex2]

Then let it go to court. That was a major black eye for a league that was already suffering from an image of throwing out a bunch of thugs and not showing wholesome family entertainment (not that I really care about that).

And sympathetic character? If he had turned into that, then the CD by that group he was trying to promote would have gone gold or platinum instead of hidden in some unheard of record store.

[Sean Cagney]

Oak was tough but he wasn't smart,,,,hence the Knicks no les. Rodman was a thinking man's bully,,,he would take on Shaq or Jordan,,,he didn't care,,,its why Jordan signed off on trading for him to help him get his 2nd three peat,,,,

yeah man I love Rodman from the Bad Boy days on. I would not blame no les on Oakley though since he went all out in 94 finals and the leader Ewing shot 38%. Charles played very well in those finals. Rodman a beast though on D and the boards. Too bad in 95 he didnt seem to care enough nor anyone alive out there could stop Hakeem on their best day.