Another view of the Davis incident

[democracyindanger]

It's from a reader of a blog, so take it for what it's worth, but like the blogger writes, it sounds pretty convincing.

I’m an ex-New Yorker living in Chicago and I was at the Bulls game last night. I wanted to share a different perspective on what happened because what is being reported is not at all accurate. I was sitting less than 10 feet from Kendra Davis and saw the whole thing.

The section of seats is filled with longtime season ticketholders so there are no “troublemakers” who sit there. Given that it was Eddy Curry’s first game back in Chicago since being traded, most of the seats in the section were filled by the ticketholders themselves.

Throughout the game, Kendra was making a spectacle of herself. She’d stand up during the game and yell to her friends sitting behind her. The only alcohol I saw consumed in the section all night was by members of her group.

When the game went into overtime, the intensity obviously increased. A fan (the balding fellow mentioned in Jay Mariotti’s column today) who was sitting two rows directly behind her, was rooting loudly for the Bulls. He did not say anything offensive. He did not swear. He was just rooting for the Bulls. It appeared that Kendra didn’t like it that someone was rooting against her husband. She got up and went to the guy’s seat (he remained seated the whole time) and started waving her hands in his face. She kept telling him to “calm down” and “relax,” and the guy kept telling her to get away from him. He was not at all confrontational. She called a member of the Bulls security staff over and told him what had happened from her perspective. He did nothing to discipline the fan since he apparently did nothing wrong.

(snip)

Security talked to a number of people and quickly determined that Kendra Davis was at fault. She and her kids were escorted from the section. The balding fellow left his seat for a short time to give his statement and returned to his seat a short time later. Nobody was ejected, nobody was arrested.

From the stories I’ve read, this is not the first time she has gotten in trouble at a game (the argument with Latrell Sprewell). One of the other fans sitting in the section was from Naperville, where Davis lived while playing with the Bulls and his\ son played Little League baseball with Antonio Jr. (Davis’ son). He said that she was constantly making a spectacle of herself and would routinely getting into arguments with other fans and families.

(snip)

http://deadspin.com/sports/nba/a-differing-view-on-davis-trip-into-the-stands-149534.php

[Robeson]

1. Which is exactly why I said on another thread here....

...that his five game suspension sounded about right. I've heard this story, too. So it seems, as always, there are two sides to every coin.

[NaturalHigh]

2. From what I saw on ESPN...

the guy in the crowd didn't like he was drunk or threatening in any way. I don't have a problem with the suspension.

[fishwax]

3. that's what I thought based on the espn footage too

he didn't ever get out of his seat from what they showed, and wasn't confrontational or threatening. Of course, one can't tell what he was saying from the tapes, and there might have been action that wasn't caught or shown ...

[ProfessorGAC]

4. Being From The Chicago Area. . .

. . .i've seen that tape a hundred times on ESPN and local TV. I think it's fairly obvious that Mrs. Smith was behaving like a punk, and if one watches that tape, one will notice that the first person to touch the other, was her. She put her left hand on his right shoulder and when he called security down (twice before they noticed him), she put her right hand on his left bicep. Now, i know that doesn't hurt, but it does meet the legal definition of assault. She's in the wrong here, and nothing she or Antonio says will change the fact that the whole thing is caught on videotape, and there were a hundred witnesses who contradict their version.
The Professor

[fishwax]

5. he doesn't ever even touch her at all on the tape, does he?

[ProfessorGAC]

6. According To What I Can See. . .

. . .the only laying hands on anyone else, is Mrs. Davis doing it to him.
The Professor

[northzax]

7. which leaves an interesting question

what if Davis went into the stands to stop his wife from getting in trouble? Maybe he knew there was something going on with her and went up to stop it?

and five games, and roughly $750,000 sounds about right.

[friesianrider]

9. I thought about that too...

However, the gentlemen is initiating a lawsuit and said if the Davises would apologize to him and donate a bit of money to a charity, he would drop the lawsuit. They both refused (which to me, not only shows they were in the wrong but kinda asshole-ish too).

[democracyindanger]

10. Funny you should bring that up

Was he reasonably concerned about his wife's safety, or instead the likelihood of her causing an incident? Sun-Times NBA writer John Jackson was on ESPNEWS quoting Maurice Taylor as to saying that Davis knew something was going on for a few possessions before the timeout was called, and Jackson speculated why he didn't simply alert security at the next game stoppage(questioning the 'it happened too fast' argument)? And I've heard similar questions from other outlets wondering why Davis was so calm going in the stands, if he sensed a true danger to his wife why wasn't he rushing up there

http://www.blogabull.com/story/2006/1/20/04458/3974

[joeybee12]

11. There's an article on MSNBC about this, and talks about her other

incidents when Security had to be called on her. Sounds like a real piece of work--I hope the guy sues and she is banned from games.

[friesianrider]

8. I totally agree Professor.

I was watching the tape closely, too. It seemed to me the only person who did any touching was Mrs. Davis on the gentlemen.