http://story.news.yahoo.c...tons_brawl
NBA Suspends Artest for Rest of Season

59 minutes ago

By CHRIS SHERIDAN, AP Basketball Writer

NEW YORK - Ron Artest was suspended for the rest of the season Sunday, and two of his Indiana Pacers (news) teammates must miss a total of 55 games for fighting with fans during a melee that broke out at the end of a game against the Detroit Pistons (news).


Overall, the NBA issued some of the harshest penalties in its history by banning nine players for more than 140 games. Artest's suspension is the strongest ever levied for a fight during a game.


"The line is drawn, and my guess is that won't happen again — certainly not by anybody who wants to be associated with our league," commissioner David Stern said.


Indiana's Stephen Jackson was suspended for 30 games and Jermaine O'Neal for 25. Detroit's Ben Wallace — whose shove of Artest after a foul led to the five-minute fracas — drew a six-game ban, while Pacers guard Anthony Johnson got five games.


"I'm sick about that for Indiana. I'm devastated for them," Pistons coach Larry Brown said. "And we lost our heart and soul."


Four players — Indiana's Reggie Miller, and Detroit's Chauncey Billups, Elden Campbell and Derrick Coleman — were suspended one game apiece for leaving the bench during the initial fracas.


All of the suspensions are without pay. Artest will lose approximately $5 million in salary, while O'Neal's suspension will cost him nearly 25 percent of his $14.8 million salary for the current season.


Players union director Billy Hunter, calling the penalties excessive, said an appeal would be filed with Stern on Monday.


"We have to make the point that there are boundaries in our games," Stern said. "One of our boundaries, that have always been immutable, is the boundary that separate the fans from the court. Players cannot lose control and move into the stands."


Artest, O'Neal and Jackson began serving their suspensions Saturday.


"I respect David Stern, but I don't think that he has been fair with me in his situation," Artest said in a statement released by the players' union in which he also expressed his regrets.


Artest's penalty was the most severe because of his checkered history. Artest being provoked into running into the stands by a fan who threw a drink did not appear to be a mitigating factor in Stern's decision.


"It was unanimous, one to nothing," Stern said. "I did not strike from my mind the fact that Ron Artest had been suspended on previous conditions for loss of self-control."


The Pacers will be able to place Artest, O'Neal and Jackson on the suspended list and sign players to take their place. Limited to just six players Saturday, Indiana dropped an 86-83 decision to Orlando.


Billups, Coleman and Campbell served their suspensions Sunday. Wallace will be eligible to return Dec. 3 against San Antonio.


Stern took the unusual step of calling a news conference at Madison Square Garden prior to the Knicks-Cavaliers game to announce the suspensions, commenting that Friday night's fracas represented "the worst" of the 20,000 to 25,000 games he has presided over in his more than two decades as commissioner.


"To watch the out-of-control fans in the stands was disgusting, but it doesn't excuse our players going into the stands," Stern said, promising a wide-ranging review that will encompass everything from security procedures to alcohol sales at arenas.



"We have to do everything possible to redefine the covenant between players and fans, and between fans and fans, and make sure we can play our games in very welcoming and peaceful settings," he said.

The NBA also has to "redefine the bounds of acceptable conduct for fans attending our games and resolve to permanently exclude those who overstep those bounds," Stern said.

For Sunday night's home game against the Charlotte Bobcats (news) — Detroit's first outing since the melee — the Pistons doubled the number of armed police to about 20 in the arena and increased other arena security personnel by about 25 percent.

When some spectators lined up to take pictures with Pistons guard Lindsey Hunter on the court before the game, two police officers stood just a few feet away.

Friday night's brawl was particularly violent, with Artest and Jackson bolting into the stands near center court and throwing punches at fans after debris was tossed at the players.

Later, fans who came onto the court were punched in the face by Artest and O'Neal. Players who entered the stands and tried to act as peacemakers were not penalized.

"The NBA has singled out Jermaine O'Neal in an arbitrary and capricious way," agent Arn Tellem said, faulting the NBA for not considering the players' fear for their own safety.

Pacers co-owner Herb Simon issued a statement saying "We believe that there was a rush to judgment and not enough opportunity for all sides to be heard. We will vigorously support our players in any available appeal process.

All appeals of disciplinary penalties for on-court disturbances are heard by Stern, making it highly unlikely any of the suspensions will be reduced.

Nine people were treated for injuries, and police are investigating possible criminal charges.

Wallace began the fracas by delivering a hard, two-handed shove to Artest after Wallace was fouled on a drive to the basket with 45.9 seconds remaining. After the fight ended, the referees called off the rest of the game.

The initial skirmish wasn't all that bad, with Artest retreating to the scorer's table and lying atop it after Wallace sent him reeling backward. But when a fan tossed a cup at Artest, he stormed into the stands, throwing punches as he climbed over seats.

Jackson joined Artest and threw punches at fans, who punched back. At one point, a chair was tossed into the fray.

"Mr. Jackson was well into the stands, and certainly anyone who watched any television this weekend understood he wasn't going in as a peacemaker," Stern said. "Jermaine, I think it's fair to say, exceeded any bounds of peacemaking with the altercation with the fan in which he was involved.

"His penalty actually would have been harsher if he had succeeded in getting into his stands, which he tried to do but was restrained from."

The most recent example of an NBA player going into the stands and punching a fan came in February 1995, when Vernon Maxwell of the Houston Rockets (news) pummeled a spectator in Portland. The league suspended him for 10 games and fined him $20,000.

Among the harshest non-drug-related penalties in NBA history was a one-year suspension of Latrell Sprewell — later reduced to 68 games — for choking Golden State Warriors (news) coach P.J. Carlesimo at practice.

Kermit Washington of the Los Angeles Lakers (news) drew a 60-day (26-game) suspension in 1977 for a punch that broke the jaw of the Houston Rockets' Rudy Tomjanovich during a game, while Dennis Rodman was suspended 11 games for kicking a courtside cameraman in the groin and six games for head-butting a referee.

Artest was benched for two games earlier this month for asking Pacers coach Rick Carlisle for time off because of a busy schedule that included promoting a rap album.

Artest was suspended twice by the NBA last season, once for leaving the bench during a fracas at a Pacers-Celtics playoff game; the other for elbowing Portland's Derek Anderson. During the 2002-03 season, Artest was suspended five times by the NBA and once by the Pacers for a total of 12 games.

Artest also once grabbed a television camera and smashed it to the ground after a loss to the Knicks two years ago.

*****

Call me nuts but I think that's pretty harsh And why should Reggie Miller (who I cannot stand) & the others who left the bench be suspended at all? They need to change that leaving the bench rule. I know it adds to the bodies to sort out but come on, they were trying to keep the peace - can you imagine if NO players had left the bench during this thing??

I've heard people saying it's a "black eye" on the NBA-which they were out of line, there were kids there-it's not like they were holiday shopping or something.

They know all the attention that's on them and simply want to make an example out of the guys.

Why they couldn't enforce these rules with reality TV and do us all a favor I have no idea.

does this make him "the artest formerly known as"?







(someone was gonna say it.)

Anxiety said:

When althom reads this you are going to be sorry.

bkw said:

yeah. i know.

subhuman09 said:

Black Eye? Naw. Now there's a reason to watch sports! They should look at it as a positive thing.

I went 2 the fights the other nite and a hockey game broke out!...





Now u can sub "basketball" 4 "hockey".

GangstaFam said:

If we can only combine the NBA and WWE-then I will know the sports industry has a future.



(That or Ultimate Fighting Championship.)

Anxiety said:

It's just too easy to make fun of him now.

althom said:

is this what it's like to be you?!

RONNYRON said:

I play guitar.

Anxiety said:

Anxiety said:

with a little bit of this

they even gave reggie miller a one game suspension for just getting off the bench.



the whole thing was Fans were out of control as well as the players.

Man, I want something to happen to those punk ass fans who threw shit & charged the court, fuck that

At least he'll have plenty of time to promote his album A $5 million pay cut is a lot to lose. With him being a high profile basketball player with the world watching him, he shouldn't have went into the stands. Security should've taken it into their hands to catch the guy who threw the cup before Artest jump up there....that's when all the real chaos started. But with his temper, I guess it was natural behavior to go after whoever threw the cup. Still he didn't even know if that was the man who threw it, so two wrongs don't make a right.

typo
[Edited 11/22/04 7:51am]

Artest suspended for the REST OF THE SEASON??!!

Actually, previous to this Artest asked for time off..

It will good for him..

Ron Artest is a slug! GO PISTONS!

I can't say the penalty was too harsh for Artest or Jackson.

As far as I could see, O'Neal was taking up for a player who was getting jumped on the floor.

By comparison, the Pistons got off WAY too light. As Colin Cowherd said this morning, the culpable fans were in a "credentialed" area, so these were fans given access to good seats by the Pistons' organization. One of the worst fans was Ben Wallace's brother. And Wallace started the whole thing.

For too long, the NBA has allowed fans to get away with too much, unless the fan was harassing a ref. Fans have thrown beers, etc. at players forever with little repercussion. The NBA allows fans to buy alcohol with little or no cutoff.

And Stern basically guaranteed another ugly incident when the Pistons come to Indy, by letting the Pistons off way too light. I know the Pistons didn't go into the stands, but it was their guy who touched off a lot of this, and their organization who gave good seats to punk fans.

New sport: Basket-BRAWL

namepeace said:

I agree, they need to review the tapes and pose fines on some of the fans. That was ridiculous. The fans need to know that they need to act responsibly also.
As far as Artest, the suspension was unreasonable, he was wrong, but a whole year. That's not right.

Maybe if some of the fans try to sue the players, they can counter sue for throwing drinks etc., at them. That would really piss people off.

Nothing But Arrogance...

Namepeace nailed this one...the Pistons, as an organization got OFF WAY TOO LIGHTLY.

First off, let me say that Artest, O'Neil, and Jackson got what they deserve.
NO WAY should they have attacked the fans, after all, they pay your salaries.
They should have let security handle throwing the fans out.
Having said that...I'm not sure how I would have handled a beer being thrown in my face.

Secondly...if you're going to give them the season off, 40 games, and 35 games,
Why would you only give the instigator, BEN WALLACE, 6 games????
He was the one who threw the first punch. He should have gotten 20-25 games, just to keep everything fair.

Thirdly, by eliminating the Pacers from the Eastern Conference, the NBA has
virtually given the Pistons a free ticket to the NBA Finals.

Fourthly, the Pistons Organization and Palace Security should be fined as well.
They dropped the ball and should be held accountable.

Fifthly, the Piston fans, once again, have shown their true colors.
This is a no-class organization from top to bottom, the fans being at the bottom.

I'd rather watch MXC rather than the NBA.

Revolution said:

Still not over the playoffs? With statements like this, I guess not, but then again, it is fun to bash Detroit, isn't it?

Both teams were at fault and the 20 people that were involved aren't all of the fans in Detroit. Did the Pistons get off lightly? Yes but they didn't attack fans.

With bait like this I'm sure you expected a bigger fish but it's predictable when Detroit holds the title.

MrJoker said:

MXC is INSANE.....in a good way. They seem a little too rough with the contestants though.

Slave2daGroove said:

Let me say this...on the local news here (yes, I'm from Detroit) some of the fans from Detroit were interviewed...They had the nerve to say that they were upset that "Detroit" was getting such a bad rap for this, because they are actually the "Auburn Hills" Pistons, no where near the city (about an hour away)

These are the same ppl who took credit for the Championship... and claim the Pistons as their team... you can't have it both ways folks!

Slave2daGroove said:

Huh? It wasn't just the playoffs that got my blood boiling over these
Pistons....I have hated this team since the mid 80's. I am a certified
Piston hater for life!

What's funny is a few weeks ago he made the news for requesting time off to record a rap album. Good grief! Be careful what you wish for, Artest.