Sprewell Fined $25,000 for Swearing

Yahoo News ^ | 12/24/03

[marshmallow]

NEW YORK - Minnesota's Latrell Sprewell was fined $25,000 by the NBA on Wednesday for cursing at New York Knicks (news) chairman James Dolan and screaming at the team's bench during the Timberwolves' 98-92 win Tuesday night.

The penalty was issued by NBA senior vice president Stu Jackson.

Sprewell, who was traded to Minnesota and scored 31 points in his return to New York, turned to Dolan and unleashed a stream of curses after his 3-pointer gave Minnesota a 94-89 lead with 1:14 left.

Referee Dan Crawford came over and warned Sprewell to stop during the ensuing timeout, but Sprewell kept it up anyway and directed his next rant at the Knicks' bench. The tirade earned him a technical foul.

Sprewell began screaming at Dolan during the first quarter, the first expletive-filled harangue making Dolan blush. Sprewell turned and shouted at Dolan several more times during the course of the game. Dolan eventually smiled at the taunts.

"All the little games he's been playing this year, I let him do the talking earlier. I'm just glad I could do the talking now," Sprewell said after the game.

[marshmallow]

He's warned. He ignores the warning and keeps cussing. So they hit him with a technical.

Wow! That's real tough. What does he need to do to get ejected? Attack the guy? To cap it off they fine him $25,000.

The NBA is frightened of this guy. With his disciplinary record an incident like this ought to earn him some serious bench time.

[Redwood71]

The NBA has created a league of superstars. And unfortunately Spreewell has fallen into that catagory in certain areas. A lot of idiot New Yorkers came to see him play that night. If he is ejected, 5,000 quieted fans go past the food and pennents to the parking lot on their way home. Over the past 30 years, many ballplayers with little talent but a whole lot of hype have been placed in the protected catagory so they wouldn't be tossed or fouled out. A perfect example of this is O'Neil from Los Angeles. Can't shoot from more than 5 feet, can't run with the club, but he can certainly knock people out of the way on his way to a dunk. If he wasn't huge, he couldn't lift Magic's or Larry's warmups. But, he stays in the game to draw people. It's kind of like the bearded lady in the side show. I find it disgusting and have ceased watching more than the scores on sports center. The game, itself, is boring.

[jimtorr]

The game, itself, is boring.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks basketball is boring. I used to really enjoy watching pro and college ball, but it all seems to be identical now. See one game, you've seen them all. I won't even get started on the antics of some of the players.

[stylin19a]

Stu Jackson used to coach the Knicks.....too funny !

[luvbach1]

The NBA is frightened of this guy

Who wants to be strangled?

[pointsal]

Sprewell, Sprewell.....didn't this knucklehead make the papers a few years ago for something .....stupid ???

[At _War_With_Liberals]

Remember the great games on Sunday afternoon in the 80's on NBC?

Those were the days. Now the games are a wrestling match of goons on STEROIDS. Boring.

[Glenn]

Glenn fined 10 cents for chewing gum.

Moral equivalents.

[mhking]

Just damn.

If you want on the new list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[Petronski]

F#ck! You mean a guy can be fined just for f#ckin' swearing?

[EveningStar]

This is Latrine Sprewell, right?

[ABG(anybody but Gore)]

When Bird and Magic were on top of their game in the '80s, the NBA was worth watching. Now it's a joke. The only basketball I bother to watch now is college ball when March Madness rolls around.

[FlyVet]

Remember the great games on Sunday afternoon in the 80's on NBC?

I do. I never watched basketball before then, but then the Pistons started their climb to the top. Their wars with the Lakers and Celtics were almost like watching a boxing match. Great wins, heartbreaking losses. It does seem boring and generic now. Back then, Dennis Rodman seemed like a decent kid. Then, when he left the Pistons, he turned into a wack job. It was all downhill from there. NBA, Nogood Bums and Aholes.

[Tall_Texan]

Regular season basketball is worthless. The players know this and barely try. Until you get into the playoffs (NBA) or the Big Dance (NCAA) it's all just sparring for seeding.

The NBA regular season exists to knock out the Clippers and about five other losers. In college, if you are one of the top four or five schools in your conference, you get an invite somewhere.

The Poobahs of Basketball have killed off anything of importance to the regular season and put all their eggs in the postseason bonanza. Wake me up at the end of February and I'll start paying attention.

BTW, are there enough classless thugs in the NBA now where they can start their own franchise? Yes, I know about the Jailblazers but what I want is to see Rasheed, A.I., Sprewell, Ron Artest, Gary Payton and about seven other jerks all on the same team. It would add a fresh element to the NBA - a team the rest of the world could really hate. Get Dennis Rodman to be their coach.

[BenLurkin]

What do you get for choking your coach?

[ABG(anybody but Gore)]

BTW, are there enough classless thugs in the NBA now where they can start their own franchise? Yes, I know about the Jailblazers but what I want is to see Rasheed, A.I., Sprewell, Ron Artest, Gary Payton and about seven other jerks all on the same team. It would add a fresh element to the NBA - a team the rest of the world could really hate. Get Dennis Rodman to be their coach.

That is frightening, LOL!

[Major_Risktaker]

Latrine


Sprewell

[xrp]

Right on! The NBA died around the time that Michael Jordan retired the first time. Since then, the NBA has filled with gangsta wannabe thugs who have no talent sans dunking. Sorry, but dunking isn't all there is to the game. Toss into that each game has about 50% of more of the points scored from the foul line and anyone can see that the NBA stinks!

[MonroeDNA]

The NBA is a gang of thugs.

[Zebra]

I used to think it died when Magic retired the first time; I never thought there was much rivalry or excitement in the Bulls championships. The cult of personality had really taken hold by then (certainly the "Nike-azation" of the NBA, where it was cool to "Be Like Mike"), and the "team" concept was on the decline.

In Boston and LA when Magic and Larry played, the teams were deep and participated in huge ways. Sure, Larry and Magic got most of the press, but Worthy, Cooper, Scott, Rambis, Jabbar, Cornbread, McHale, Ainge, DJ and the rest all got serious attention. It wasn't a dunk fest, thuggery was not allowed, and players respected each other and the fans. And fundamental team basketball produced a pleasure to watch.

The NBA is a miserable circus on decline. Undiscipled high school kids in the thrall of greedy agents who dictate minutes and even coaches. No fundamentals, no concept of team. It fits nicely with the OJ-Scott Peterson-Jon Benet--Kobe co-option of the news and the pandering to the baser and more reviled tastes of consumers.

On the other hand, watch for the NFL to stay strong. You get discipline in a league where a cell phone call costs you $30K as compared to a league where a Sprewell tirade is $25K.