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I don't particularly care for Ben Wallace. Artest I am pretty ambivalent about but it is clear the man really needs some help. If he hadn't lept into the seats then things would not have gotten out of control last night.
The point is, it never would be. Duncan doesn't trash $100K HDTV cameras or any of the other that Artest does.If this was Duncan
Artest is a genuine, dyed in the wool nutjob.
I don't particularly care for Ben Wallace. Artest I am pretty ambivalent about but it is clear the man really needs some help. If he hadn't lept into the seats then things would not have gotten out of control last night.
Duncan wouldn't be involved in something like this. Now, he'd let Massenberg take care of it for him, or our whiteboy thug Danny Ferry would come out of the stands and take care of biz.
Again, I'd like to bring up my clever analogy about Artest blowing up the building and the fan laying the explosives. It doesn't have to come to Artest if the fan doesn't throw the cup. Artest is a troubled man, no doubt about it. But does that mean fans deserve to target him and throw stuff at him? Since this is Artest, its almost as if people have the obligation to openly provoke and in the end, throw things at him, which is deplorable. And don't bring up the whole "hey, fans throw things at players all the time" excuse. Kinda like the "boys will be boys" excuse. Its almost like you're excusing the fans just because it seems normal.
Precisely, myhc. The Pistons fans, more than anyone else, should be "punished" in this situation. As a stadium and organization, it's their responsibility to keep the fans under control. And they should be punished accordingly. Artest, JO, and Stephen Jackson should definitely be punished heavily for what happened, perhaps a similar punishment that Vernon Maxwell received many years ago. But the NBA should definitely lay the smackdown on the Pistons more than anything else. Closed stadium games for the next 5 games would be an excellent solution.
Actually, it was one Piston fan who caused this. Ban him from games or whatever, but punishing the Pistons for the fact that Artest and friends cannot handle themselves is ridiculous.
Hmmm..what about the two knuckleheads who confronted Artest ON THE FLOOR?
Simply put it's easier to control the players than the fans and not as detrimental to the league. Start telling the fans how to act too much and you might get a big you from them in return.
The league needs the fans a lot more than they need Artest...that's the truth. If Artest can't handle the responsibilities of the job then he should quit.
Remember, the fans pay for this league, not the other way around. You may not like the fact that it is that way, but that's the way it is nontheless.
Artest should not have gone up into the stands, he should have let security take care of that guy, like they do every other time something like this occurs( unless dumbass Artest is involved. )...
And yes Artest is a victim of his own past stupidity...the fans know he is always a hairsbreadth away from total ing meltdown and enemy fans are likely to try and help their team out by getting him to do something stupid. All is fair...players get cup chunked at them all the time...even our Spurs.
Instead of trying to regulate and control 20,000 anonymous fans...how about Artest smarten up and realize the only people he hurts by being agressive are his team and it's fans. The Pacers got hurt by this a lot worse than Detroit or it's fans....basically Artest got mentally owned by some middle class non athletic drunk PistonFan. He's a true dumbass...no matter how much money he makes or how good at basketball he is. He needs to stay the out of the stands or not play pro sports.
Last edited by whottt; 11-20-2004 at 09:24 PM.
OK, so we have possibly 3 fans out of 18,000 or so. You know what a pro does in that situation? Walks away.
It's almost like you're excusing Artest because it seems normal.Its almost like you're excusing the fans just because it seems normal.
I'm with you 100 percent on this one Ex.
*tries to recuperate from vicious attack, contemplates attacking exstatic but restrains self*
i'm not excusing anyone from this because no one should be. I've blamed Artest in other threads but I still say all parties involved are to be blamed. Those of you saying Artest is the only one to blame just because he's had a history of problems seem to be missing the point that the fan ignited this whole thing by throwing a bottle at Artest. To place total blame on Artest is just being short sighted.
I agree, fans have the right to insult and talk about players because that's part of the game. But when fans start to throw things, no matter how harmless it may be, you have crossed the line. You guys are so tuned in on how much of a headcase Artest is, you don't even look at the fans as part of the equation. Artest didn't suddenly snap and jump into the stands because someone called his momma fat. Yea it was JUST water, but people in the past have also thrown batteries, full water bottles etc. Where do you draw the line? If someone gets hit in the eye and loses his vision?
I believe ARtest was absolutely wrong and should be suspended for a long time, maybe the season. But it takes two to tango. The fanS, with a capital S because there were people THROWING CHAIRS and others beating this one Pacer player who was trying to break things up, are just as culpable as Artest.
Exactly, but the NBA will be too scared to lay a punishment on the Pistons and their fans. A bunch of pussies in my book. What they have basically said is that it's open season on the players, and the fans can do whatever they want, just because they paid for their seats.
Thank god soccer over in Europe doesn't stand for this .
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