Artest fight, need FR help (vanity

11/22/04 | Josh in PA

[Josh in PA]

It's incredible.

Some of the positions he takes are outragous.. I can't even comes to grasp with it. He has to be a put on.

[Alberta's Child]

The NBA is like most other sports leagues in that they don't penalize players as harshly for on-field incidents as they do for what happens off the court. Their is an implicit understanding that things happen in the heat of a competitive sporting event that wouldn't happen anywhere else.

NBA fans from the 1980s might remember an incident that occurred in a game between the 76ers and Celtics, when Julius Erving and Larry Bird -- two of the classiest, most gentlemanly players in the history of the game -- were involved in an on-court incident. And this occurred the night after they had filmed a television commercial together!

Sh!t happens, and that's all there is to it. Both players were quite embarrassed about it afterwards. The NBA didn't suspend either player for that incident.

[RadioActive2]

no, but the video clearly shows the guy artest beats up is clearly STILL HOLDING HIS BEER when artest attacks

[Garattler]

"I am not sure but it looked like one of the same guys that said this morning that any fan that came onto the court was "fair game". Funny he didn't say that any player that went into the stands should be considered "fair game"."

I'm sure that I'm missing something in all of this. Don't fans pay to see ball games? Is not this money used to pay these pampered athletes And maintain the stadiums? Why in this world would a person pay money to get the crap beat out of him? In my younger days I could get that done and not pay for it. Probably could still do that, but it takes so long to heal now-a-days.

I have given up on professional sports since they took away the sportsmanship.

[A2J]

Artest has had cups and other things thrown at him on more than one occasion throughout his career. He might have deserved it, but that's not really the point. Finally, he just snapped. You can't expect everybody to sit back and take the abuse forever. He's still human.

And why do you think he's had stuff thrown at him before? Was it because of his professionalism on the court? I think not.

Artest is like an animal that is bred for fighting and it is HE who initiates the provocations from the fans through his actions and attitudes on the court.

I don't see how anyone can "understand" why he does what he does and attempt to defend his thuggery.

[A2J]

Artest seemingly didn't want any part of Wallace.

Is that why he hacked Wallace for purpose and with the game in hand? Artest was looking for and got trouble.

[Hatteras]

I saw Stuart Scott with a few others only minutes after the fight condemning the fans. Of course, these are the same guys that run their smack and their little jive lingo, get all excited when football players get, "JACKED UP!" and then when a bunch of "brothers" do something stupid... criminal even, Who's fault is it? Why, of course, it's little rich whitey with the front row seats that caused all the problems. They were pinning everything on these two guys before the dust had settled. Next step? I think a "TownHall Meeting" with players and NBA fans to discuss what they can do to come together is in order.

Of course all of this has nothing to do with the acceptance of all the smack talk and gangsta imagery the players and the league condone. This is where the responsibility of the NBA and David Stern come into play. This type of thing has been in the works for a few years now, The NBA will reap what it sows.

At halftime, walking through the concourse level of an NBA game a couple of years ago (free tickets...) I felt like I was in a shark tank at SeaWorld. Mostly blacks and Latinos just walking in circles around the stadium in their little gangs not saying anything but just keeping and eye on everyone. I was just waiting for a few gunshots to ring out. Free tickets or no, never again.

I guess, in retrospect, they should be thankful they weren't in Philly for this brawl in the stands. With Allan Iverson's thugs, er, I mean "pals" in the stands, shots just might have rung out.

The NBA. It's FANtastic!..

[Defiant]

off the ice, hockey players are generally considered among the most decent professional athletes you'll ever meet

Except for the one who murdered his agent recently, I suppose.

[GSWarrior]

Artest's hard foul wasn't that bad. It didn't warrant Wallace's response, IMO. The refs didn't see fit to give him a flagrant foul.

[RGSpincich]

the players were justified in beating the crap out of the fans.

Amazing. Chicken sh*t journalism at it's worst. No doubt, these guys are worried about facing the NBA thugs in the future.

[wewon]

"Artest has had cups and other things thrown at him on more than one occasion throughout his career. He might have deserved it, but that's not really the point. Finally, he just snapped. You can't expect everybody to sit back and take the abuse forever. He's still human. "

artest had been suspended 7 times the last 2 seasons. i guess he's "just human". david stern is "just human", so he suspended him for the year ( i think it should be for life ). he is a thug, hiding out as a basketball player. you apologists really disturb me. you elevate these thugs to the point they are justified in doing anything, no matter how outrageous the behavior.

[DouglasKC]

You can't expect everybody to sit back and take the abuse forever. He's still human. I still think he should have been suspended though. I just don't think the rest of the season is appropriate. I was thinking more like 15 games. Just my opinion.

Using that logic it would be appropriate for every public figure to physically attack critics. Movie stars like Alec Baldwin and Barbara Streisand should be able to hunt us down and attack us. The only penalty should be that they have to forfeit a few thousand dollars in revenue from their performances.

[Alberta's Child]

He didn't kill anyone; he tried to hire someone to do it for him.

The guy was a loony-tune from Day One, which was why: 1) he changed his name a couple of years earlier; and 2) he was suspended for an entire season by his previous team (the New Jersey Devils) for a reason that has never been made public. Item #2 is particularly noteworthy because the NHL player's association never even objected to that harsh penalty.

You'll find crazy people in every walk of life. Sometimes they are hockey players, and sometimes they are immigrants from Laos who shoot people in the woods in Wisconsin.

[excalibur1701]

>>if you don't know who threw the cup, you don't go hitting
>>innoncent people there with there kids!!!

Look at the young girl in the background while Artest was in the stands. She was cheering them all. So I don't buy the 'kids' argument.

[jordan8]

Is there a downloadable clip of this brawl somewhere?

[kizzdogg]

Using that logic it would be appropriate for every public figure to physically attack critics. Movie stars like Alec Baldwin and Barbara Streisand should be able to hunt us down and attack us. The only penalty should be that they have to forfeit a few thousand dollars in revenue from their performances.

If people would start to throw cups of beer and liquid ice onto celebrities like Alec Baldwin then I would fully expect them to start attacking. Celebrities have attacked people over less. Something as simple as their picture being taken. There's nothing that's going to pursuede anybody over to either side here, I was just giving my point.