Artest OUT FOR SEASON

[tishaLA]

So says ESPN.

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 5-minute fracas - drew a six-game ban, while Pacers guard Anthony Johnson got five games.

Four players were suspended for a game apiece: Indiana's Reggie Miller, and Detroit's Chauncey Billups, Elden Campbell and Derrick Coleman.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1928540

[Padraig18]

1. Good. n/t

[greatauntoftriplets]

4. Yep.

n/t

[THUNDER HANDS]

2. O'Neal for 25 games is gonna kill Indiana

What is their frontcourt now?

[Champ]

32. This is how their lineup looks

Jamaal Tinsley - Solid PG, what no one noticed is the decisions he made in the final 3 minutes that helped widen the gap for Indiana. I'm not worried about the PG.

Fred Jones - Great player and awesome dunker(NCAA Slam Dunk Champ), Can shoot the ball well and plays average defense.

James Jones - 2nd year guy, hasn't played much. He scored 37 points, 21 rebounds, 2 assist, and 5 steals in a 146 total minutes career. Will have some big shoes to fill in Bender and Artest's absence.

Austin Crosher - Great player from the bench, can start at PF on some other teams. Shoots a great deep ball.

Scot Pollard - Honestly don't know much but he is a good backup center, but nothing more.

The suspensions have obviously killed them, they will probaly go the next 25-30 games hovering around the .400 maybe .500 area.

[Droopy]

3. Damn, they really came down hard on them

But when you think about it, what a few of those guys did would get the average joe jail time.

[Carla in Ca]

33. The NBA can be proud today

Hats off to David Stern, the NBA Commissioner, for these harsh suspensions. I admire and respect this sport even more now. This sends a clear signal to all players and coaches. I only wish today's parents would learn a lesson from this as well.
Now, if the wimps running baseball would get this tough, I'd start watching that again, too.

[BeatleBoot]

5. What?

You mean you can't go around bashing people's heads in?

Who knew?

[Stew225]

6. And the idiot fans involved get off

Scott free! I wonder if Scott got off.

[Buzz Clik]

10. Not necessarily.

The players who went into the stands and various participating fans who can be identified all are subject to possible criminal indictment or civil suits.

[Bark Bark Bark]

7. Who Else Burns?

I have no pity for any of these bozos, but I hope the fans who were throwing things at the players also get their asses finely grilled. Before this sort of thing becomes the norm and turns into our version of soccer hooliganism.

[Uzybone]

8. What happens to the "fans"

hopefully law enforcement is as stern with them as the NBA was with the players.

[faithnotgreed]

17. i agree. im glad the players were punished but the fans need to be

as well. all of them made this situation so all should pay according to their actions

[tishaLA]

22. Some of them should have their tickets revoked

for the rest of the season. That's for damn sure.

[faithnotgreed]

26. absolutely -- for those with season tickets.

there are certainly other good punishment options but for those who didnt physically assault, they should be barred from games for inciting. but for the person who threw a chair or the like, they should clearly face additional punishment.

neither players nor fans are in any way justified for what happened

[Baclava]

WOW - I was wrong...worse than I thought - they got nailed!

They really threw the book at them...(pending appeal, of course)
Holy shit, the NBA wants to make a statement here!

[democracy eh]

9. OK I am now betting heavy against Indy on pro-line this week

as the odds have likely been booked already

sweet

edit: crap odds aren't out yet for this week's games

[Buzz Clik]

11. I didn't hear anyone predict this.

However, it's good to see the NBA draw a clear line.

[vpigrad]

12. Why are people that work in sports...

treated so much more harshly than the general population. If I hit someone, I'd get a few nights in jail or at most, 30 days. Artest defends himself, and he's out for a season! In the real-world if you tell a cop "he did this, so I punch him once," no one would make a big deal out of it. Instead, the media goes into overdrive to make sure these black athletes are punished harshly.

And, WTF is the deal with the suspension to Campbell? Guilt by association?

[chascarrillo]

14. Artest is spending the season in jail?

Really? You have a source for that?

[vpigrad]

19. There should be a reading comprehension test...

in order to post here. It would make the site much more useful.

[chascarrillo]

24. So true!

Look, you said:

If I hit someone, I'd get a few nights in jail or at most, 30 days. Artest defends himself, and he's out for a season!

My post pointed out the silliness of suggesting that being suspended from playing ball in the NBA was equitable to spending a month in prison.

By the way, if your own reading skills were up to snuff, you'd realize that Campbell was suspended for a game for leaving the bench. It's the standard sanction for that violation.

[DrWeird]

13. What a bunch of bullshit.

nt

[Socialist Dem]

15. Good.

Artest deserves no less. He had no reason for laying down on the scorer's table like that when the fans were already yelling at him. My opinion is when he did that, he was asking for the abuse. Then when he gets a beer dumped on him, he gets all incensed and starts punching people.

He's always been a punk. He was a punk when he played here in Chicago, and is no different now.

[mark414]

18. so you're justifying the fans behavior?

yes..artest should not have gone into the stands. but it's pretty clear you didn't like this guy before this incident, and i doubt you'd feel the same way if it was some player you liked in artest's place (who probably would've reacted in a similar fashion).

i don't like artest either, i think he's fucking nuts, but i put most of the blame with the fans.

[Socialist Dem]

20. Right

The fans were just as wrong in this situation.

I'm saying Artest has a history of this kind of behavior, and he was making the situation worse by going over and laying down on the scorer's table RIGHT IN FRONT of the fans. He was egging them on by doing that.

The fans acted like animals in my opinion, and I hope the ones who deserve it get punished. That asshole who went on the court and got punched by Artest deserved exactly what happened to him.

Artest did NOTHING to help calm things. That's been his history. Once he was suspended for smashing a video camera on the court. He has a loud mouth and seems to think of himself before his team.

[sir_captain]

25. You're wrong

Artest has no such history. The worst thing he had ever done before was break a tv camera, which he then paid to replace. He had no history of violence whatsoever.

[bri_in_austin]

16. I hope that "fan" who threw a chair ends up in jail, that's ridiculous!

[Zynx]

23. Can't suspend fans by NBA order

Michigan prosecutor will hopefully have indictments out by Thanksgiving.

[faithnotgreed]

28. really? the worst of the fans cant be barred from the games?

i thought that was a good idea to consider, depending on the specifics. or did i misunderstand your post....

[Catchawave]

21. Yippee!

...and that goes for all the rest of the pro players in all the sports, let this be a lesson!

...and to the stooopid fans, if ya wanna get drunk, stay home. Geesh, not to mention you're on the ROAD after 9 hours of tailgating and the sports event!

End of rant.

[Champ]

27. Now this is some bullshit

The whole season? His only intent was going after those who challenged him or threw shit on him. Yes he went after the wrong way but a fan who was there(who got punched by Stephen Jackson(Who actually deserves the biggest punishment of the players, he excersized no self control whatsoever from second 1 and went after fans for the hell of it)) said he yelled to the fan who he knocked down "Did you throw that?", all he did was go after him, went after the guy who punched him twice from behind(Which I wholeheartedly defend) and the guy who got close to Artest and threw up his fists while he was led off the court. Also to note, WTF did Reggie do? He has a broken wrist and the only thing he did was trying to calm down Artest as well as other Indiana players who were being jumped.

[faithnotgreed]

29. as for reggie, im assuming its the same as for the others with

a one game suspension. for some time now, players cant leave the bench during any altercation.

[meisje]

30. They should be kicked out permanently

and the fans prosecuted

[henslee]

31. Plenty of time to devote to his rap career. Maybe he should write a song

about it. Hmm, not a bad idea.

[theboss]

34. I think he was just practicing for new year's Vibe awards

His record hits next week, you know.