The NBA League Office Strikes Again
Wed, 2007-05-16 02:55 — Berger
Let me first start this column by saying since I was old enough to walk, I have been a fan of the NBA. I think NBA Commissioner David Stern is the best commissioner in the history of sports and he's a visionary beyond comparison. I worked for the Portland Trail Blazers for 6 years and thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the league. With all of that being said, I've got a real tough time swallowing the decisions that were made today in the league offices in New York.
There's the spirit of the law and there's the letter of the law. I'm not sure if the NBA czars know which side of the law they're on.
How do the following actions make any sense?
1.) Bruce Bowen knees 2-time league MVP Steve Nash in the groin in Game 3 of the Suns - Spurs series. Nash goes down in a heap and the league office takes no action against Bowen. (Which brings me to another point....has there ever been a 2-time MVP in ANY sport who has gotten less respect from their league office and from officials than Nash? Think about that one for a second).
2.) Jason Richardson clotheslines Mehmet Okur in Game 4 of the Jazz - Warriors series. Hard foul or dirty foul? The NBA league office decides its just a hard, playoff foul and takes no action against Richardson.
3.) Baron Davis throws a vicious elbow to the head of Jazz guard Derek Fisher and Fisher crumples to the floor in obvious pain. The NBA league office issues Davis a Flagrant Foul 2 but does not suspend him.
4.) Robert Horry levels Steve Nash with :18 seconds to go in last night's Suns - Spurs game. Nash's teammates, Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw react, like most of us would, and take several steps towards their team's star. No punches are thrown, no "fight" ensues and order is restored quickly.
So, if you are keeping score, you have 4 physical acts of violence on an NBA court (Bowen, Richardson, Davis and Horry) and 2 "threats" of violence by two players who by the letter of the law, left the bench area (Stoudemire and Diaw).
Can someone please explain this logic to me? Bowen, Davis and Richardson are not suspended after making hard physical contact with their opponents, while Stoudemire and Diaw are suspended for not making any physical contact? Isn't it the league's goal to ultimately keep Stoudemire and Diaw from doing what Bowen, Richardson and Davis actually did?
If the NBA had suspended Bowen, Richardson and Davis for their actions, I would not have been surprised at all when they issued the verdict they did today suspending Stoudemire and Diaw. But the league office has been completely inconsistent with their disciplinary actions during these playoffs. If you're going to interpret by the letter of the law like you did with Stoudemire and Diaw, shouldn't you also do the same when dealing with Bowen, Richardson and Davis?
As I pointed out in my column earlier today, I've seen great flexibility on the part of Commissioner Stern this season. He ultimately got the NBA game ball situation right when he listened to his players and switched back to the old leather ball that the players preferred. He also backed off his hard line stance on not placing an NBA franchise in Las Vegas unless NBA games were taking off the boards at the casinos. He seemed to be doing a much better job of evaluating things on a case by case situation and not looking at things as black and white as he used to.
As a fan of the NBA, I was very disappointed to see how things were handled today. I think the league botched this one big time quite frankly. What was one of the best NBA Playoff series in years has now been tainted and we won't get the opportunity to see two great teams compete against each other at full strength. Fans and sponsors who paid top dollar to watch/sponsor tomorrow night's Game 5 in Phoenix, will miss out on seeing Amare Stoudemire, an All-NBA First Team selection, and Boris Diaw, the NBA's Most Improved Player last season.
This ruling also will impact the rest of these series from a competitive standpoint. Not only do the Suns lose their only low post scoring option in Stoudemire, but the Suns core players - Nash, Marion, Bell, Barbosa and Thomas - will log serious minutes in Game 5 tomorrow night and that will likely put them at a disadvantage for Game 6 and a possible Game 7.
Also, this controversial ruling will undoubtedly be THE topic of conversation on radio shows like mine all across America. Somehow I don't think the league office wanted the conversation focused on suspensions and flagrant fouls. I'm quite sure that they'd much rather hear people talking about how competitive and exciting these NBA Playoffs have been.
Robert Horry's bush league action actually served to help his team more than anything he could have achieved on the court last night. The NBA today helped reward Horry and the Spurs for that action. That's just wrong.
Again, if there had been an actual fight with punches thrown and Stoudemire and Diaw had left the bench to come join the melee, then I would understand the league office ruling as they did today. But no punches were thrown and the two Suns players were simply reacting as many of us would if someone we knew was assaulted in the manner Nash was last night.
If anything, I think the NBA's decision today will make some teams pause and consider duplicating Horry's action from last night. Don't be surprised to see some role player like Horry take a cheap shot at one of the leagues stars - Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade or LeBron James - in the future in an effort to incite that star's teammates in to doing exactly what Stoudemire and Diaw did last night.
The NBA (like the NCAA) needs to re-visit their rulebook and consider making some changes. Some rules, like the blood rule which caused Steve Nash to miss most of the final minutes of Game 1 of this series, are outdated and were written 20 years ago. Other rules, like the dress code, are good rules in my opinion, that fit in with today's culture.
If you look at the history for both Stoudemire and Diaw, both have been solid NBA citizens. If this had been Ron Artest or Rasheed Wallace that's one thing, but Stoudemire and Diaw have always been great ambassadors for the league. If this issue were'nt so black and white, maybe their histories could have been factored in to the verdict that was handed down today.
I urge the NBA to examine each incident on a case by case basis in the future and not be so black and white. The same league that wants its players to be passionate and competitive, can't expect these same players to react like lifeless robots when they see one of their own teammates assaulted (as Nash was last night) or when they themselves are assaulted.
The league's goal should be to ultimately "get it right". Even if that means interpreting by the spirit of the law and not the letter of the law.
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They broke the rule.
I agree that it's unfortunate that Stoudemire and Diaw received suspensions. But they broke the rule.
I agree with what you wrote yesterday, that they did nothing to contribute to a fight or scuffle on the floor. They made a human reaction by standing up and taking three or four steps when a teammate was shoved out of bounds into the scorer's table.
But whether they took those steps without knowing it, took them to see if Nash was okay, or took them to be a part of a scuffle but then stopped and returned to the bench, they left the bench area. And that is against the rules. It was a black and white rule written to prevent bench-clearing brawls. The league could not just open the floodgate for all gray-area interpretation for now on. Gray-area doesn't scare the players into following rules.
I think that the Stoudemire/Diaw instance has exposed a flaw. The rule should be changed to be more focused on involvement of bench players rather than their relative positioning on the floor.
One element that I haven't heard any journalist mention is that the foul happened very close to the Suns bench. I want to believe that Stoudemire and Diaw were reacting with a "help" instinct because Nash was right there, really close to the Suns bench. Had that foul happened down the court and on the opposite sideline, those Suns players would have probably just stood up, thrown their arms in the air, and vocally objected to Horry's actions.
Maybe proximity to the bench should be a factor. Had Horry hockey-checked Nash into the actual Suns bench area, I am sure all eight players and four coaches would have immediately stood up and would have got in Horry's face. Do they all get suspended, then, because Horry was in their designated area?
I completely disagree
I completely disagree because what Baron, Jason, Horry and especially Bowen did was in the course of the basketball game. While unnecessary on Baron, Jason and Horrys part they were within the flow of the Game. Jason and Baron were much dirtier than Horrys and they did not get suspended. Bowens was an accident and should have not even been called a foul. Obviously Horrys foul was a flagrant but aren’t all late game fouls flagrant? Stat and Diaw almost turned a bad situation into a horrible one. I would much rather see them play however I do not believe in any situation should they be allowed to leave the bench. How could it be a natural reaction when all the other players on the bench did not move a muscle? Remember it was Bowen who started the altercation. Horry was calm and walked away from Nash when Bell rushed him. While commendable to stick up for his teammates he is ultimately responsible for the loss of his teammates. Nash is rational if Bell had not rushed him no incident would have occurred and we would not be talking about this. Do not blame the NBA; blame the suns for losing their composure. This is their series to win and they need to take the next step mentally to complete that goal.
NBA Front Office hands series to the Sperms
Coach Popadick had a plan that he expected Robert "The Whore" Horry to execute.....finish what Tony Parker couldn't.....hurt Steve Nash enough to knock him out of the series. What Popadick could not have predicted is Robert "The Whore" Horry actually did worked out better for the Sperms. While the Suns lost two of their best players for the critical game 5, all the Sperms lost was a washed-up no point scoring hack of a player. Who cares if "The Whore" is out for two games.....that only about a loss of 6 points total for the Sperms, but Popadick will have to find another dirty player on his roster to play hatchet man. Good job David Stern and Stu Jackson. Just when you had a series that might actually increase your television ratings, you blow the ruling and hand the series to the Sperms and your television ratings to "American Idol" and "Lost".
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