Bee: Artest appealing suspension

[VF21]

http://www.sacbee.com/kings/story/274605.html

Artest appealing suspension
By Sam Amick - Bee Staff Writer
Published 7:18 pm PDT Sunday, July 15, 2007

LAS VEGAS - Kings small forward Ron Artest is appealing his league-mandated seven-game suspension, according to his agent.

Reached by phone in Kenya - where Artest is one of four NBA players taking part in the National Basketball Players Association's "Feeding One Million" campaign - Mark Stevens said he has filed an appeal on behalf of his client. The punishment was the result of Artest's no-contest plea in May for domestic violence misdemeanors.

His suspension was announced Saturday, coinciding with a seven-game ruling handed to Stephen Jackson, a former Artest teammate and co-culprit in the 2004 Detroit brawl. The Golden State forward pleaded guilty in June to a felony count of criminal recklessness. While still playing for Indiana in early October, he fired a gun in the air in self-defense after being hit by a car outside a strip club.

Union director Billy Hunter released a statement to the Associated Press early Sunday stating both players were considering appeals.

"Based on prior precedent, we think the suspensions are excessive," Hunter said in the statement.

Jackson had released a statement saying he accepted the suspension Saturday, and it is not known if he will follow through with an appeal.

 

[piksi]

I hope he isn't going for "double or nothing"

 

[VF21]

Under normal circumstances, a seven-game suspension for misdemeanors might seem excessive. However, IMHO, "normal" quit applying to Ron Artest's situation a long, long time ago... in a city far, far away.

 

[Kingfanpaul]

Under normal circumstances, a seven-game suspension for misdemeanors might seem excessive. However, IMHO, "normal" quit applying to Ron Artest's situation a long, long time ago... in a city far, far away.

and you could probably say the same thing for steven jackson.

 

[hrdboild]

That's the kind of logic that drives me crazy. Why continue to punish someone for something that they've already been punished for? Why should it matter that this is Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson?

 

[VF21]

That's the kind of logic that drives me crazy. Why continue to punish someone for something that they've already been punished for? Why should it matter that this is Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson?

The suspensions were handled down AFTER legal proceedings had been concluded. As far as I know, that's always the way the NBA does it. And whatever legal punishment they might receive is incidental to the penalties the parent corporation - NBA - hands down to employees.

 

[Bricklayer]

That's the kind of logic that drives me crazy. Why continue to punish someone for something that they've already been punished for? Why should it matter that this is Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson?

There is an attempt here to deter and to send a message/take a stand. If the ball bouncing dimwits don't get the message at 1 game or 2 games then you start upping the ante until something finally clicks. Might be an echo inside some of those noggins when/if it finally happens. You can see the NBA getting increasingly restive about all the thuggery and criminal stuff in recent years.

 

[hrdboild]

The suspensions were handled down AFTER legal proceedings had been concluded. As far as I know, that's always the way the NBA does it. And whatever legal punishment they might receive is incidental to the penalties the parent corporation - NBA - hands down to employees.

That's not the punishment I was referring to. I understand the league imposes suspensions in addition to whatever punishment is doled out in the courtroom. I was referring to his one year suspension for the Auburn Hills fight. As you said, a seven game suspension for misdemeanors seems excessive. Why does it make a difference that this is Ron Artest? He's already payed for his role in the Detroit mess several times over with NBA suspensions. What happens off the court has nothing to do with what happened on the court. I haven't seen Ron Artest even remotely involved in any on-the-court altercations in the two and a half years since that fight so it's hard to see how this suspension should be seen as a "second offense" of any kind. It seems pretty clear that some people are always going to see Ron Artest as the crazy guy who ran into the stands to pick a fight and no matter what he does from now on, he'll always be judged differently as a result. That seems incredibly unfair to me. He made a mistake, he paid for it, let's move on. Except for Ron Artest probably benefitting from some anger management coaching, these are totally seperate incidents which should be judged seperately. And the same goes for Stephen Jackson.

 

[kennadog]

That's not the punishment I was referring to. I understand the league imposes suspensions in addition to whatever punishment is doled out in the courtroom. I was referring to his one year suspension for the Auburn Hills fight. As you said, a seven game suspension for misdemeanors seems excessive. Why does it make a difference that this is Ron Artest? He's already payed for his role in the Detroit mess several times over with NBA suspensions. What happens off the court has nothing to do with what happened on the court. I haven't seen Ron Artest even remotely involved in any on-the-court altercations in the two and a half years since that fight so it's hard to see how this suspension should be seen as a "second offense" of any kind. It seems pretty clear that some people are always going to see Ron Artest as the crazy guy who ran into the stands to pick a fight and no matter what he does from now on, he'll always be judged differently as a result. That seems incredibly unfair to me. He made a mistake, he paid for it, let's move on. Except for Ron Artest probably benefitting from some anger management coaching, these are totally seperate incidents which should be judged seperately. And the same goes for Stephen Jackson.

Sorry, but I don't agree at all. If a person commits an offense (I don't care what it is), is punished for it and learns from it to stay clean, fine. If, however he doesn't understand after the first time, or the second time or the third time, the penalty should absolutely get more severe each time than for a first offense. Personally, at some point they should be out of the league, IMHO.

Only several hundred people in the world get to play in the NBA. It's a priviledge, not a right. If somebody keeps proving they can't stay out of trouble, give their spot to somebody else. And as a fan, it does matter to me how a player on my team behaves off the court.

 

[hrdboild]

The penalty for a second offense should be more severe, sure -- but I fail to see how this qualifies as a second offense. It's totally unrelated to basketball. The dog thing was ridiculous. The domestic abuse incident, yeah that is a problem, but it's a personal problem and it isn't at all related to the game of basketball. He's behaved himself on the court and done everything asked of him. I don't recall Jason Kidd getting a 7 game suspension for his domestic abuse case. Kobe Bryant didn't get 7 games for his rape charge. He didn't violate some substance abuse policy or anything either. He wasn't even convicted of a crime. Artest and Jackson are still being targeted by the league because of their involvement in Auburn Hills and whether that's to "send a message" or not, it's totally unfair.

What you think about Ron Artest as a fan is totally irrelevant. You can feel however you like, that's not the point. This is about a league mandated suspension. Ron Artest signed a contract with a team to play basketball, not to be a model citizen. As long as he's fulfilling his contract, he's got a spot in the league. If no one wants to sign him in two years then he's out of the league. But that's not for the league office to decide. And trying to clean up your corporate image at the expense of one of your employees is absolutely against the law and should be prosecuted by the player's union.

 

[VF21]

Ron Artest has destroyed expensive camera equipment, he was a key player in the Detroit brawl. Technically, the domestic dispute should/could have been considered his third strike.

The league is sending a message. You may not agree with it but the message is coming across loud and clear. Clean up your act or suffer the consequences.

Ron Artest has a basic flaw. He's been in anger management counseling for years at various times.

One time is a mistake. Two times is a problem. Three times is an indication of something that will most likely never cease.

 

[kennadog]

The NBA suspends for either guilty verdicts or "no contest" pleas. Basically, Ron did not contest the charges and accepted the court's penalties for the offense. The dog thing is ridiculous? He had the same problems with the law over the same dog while he was in Indiana.

 

[hrdboild]

Excuse me for thinking we live in a democracy. I guess it shouldn't surprise me that the NBA treats it's players with the same lock 'em up and forget 'em attitude that the United States government treats it's lower class citizens, but I still don't think it's right.

 

[Circa_1985_Fan]

Under normal circumstances, a seven-game suspension for misdemeanors might seem excessive. However, IMHO, "normal" quit applying to Ron Artest's situation a long, long time ago... in a city far, far away.

I think this about sums it up. David Stern was very stern(no pun intended)in his last face to face with Ron a couple years ago. And yes, even though Ron has been nothing but great here in Sac, off the court issues give a bad rap to the NBA as a whole.

 

[hrdboild]

I think Ron Artest's family problems count for a whole lot more than the league's bad rap. I have no questions about why the NBA is issuing these suspensions. But do you honestly think valuing a corporate image over individual players (individual people) is commendable behavior?

This does set an example alright. It is about more than just the NBA. This is about the way the justice system as a whole applies it's "tough on crime" philosophy to mean locking up drug addicts and people with a history of domestic violence instead of actually helping them to solve their problems. This is just one very small example of a much larger trend. Forget the corporate image. Forget whether the number of people you've imprisoned or executed this year is going to affect your election polls. None of that really matters. What matters are the people involved. If Ron Artest does have a problem with violence (which quite plainly he does) how is a 7 game suspension going to change anything at all? This has "clean up the NBA's image" written all over it and that's sleazy and immoral, not to mention without legal precedent.

 

[kennadog]

Considering the fact that Artest has been in and out of anger management counseling since he was about 10 years old, just where the heck has society failed him? At some point adults have to be held accountable for their behavior. Artest hasn't had one or two chances in life, he's had multiple chances. More than the average American gets by far.

 

[BMiller52]

Hopefully the NBA takes 1 or 2 games off of the suspension. I think 5 games is fair. He already missed games because of this IIRC when the Kings put him on the inactive list. I think it was kind of a low blow to hand this to him while he was in another country though.

 

[Vlade4GM]

Hopefully the NBA takes 1 or 2 games off of the suspension. I think 5 games is fair. He already missed games because of this IIRC when the Kings put him on the inactive list. I think it was kind of a low blow to hand this to him while he was in another country though.

Totally different situation.

 

[BMiller52]

Totally different situation.

I guess but in the end dude misses more than 7 games because of the situation. That seems a bit harsh IMO. I realize it IS Ron but oh well.

 

[chelle]

Does anybody know when Ron last had a season when he was not suspended (by his team or Stern) for behavioral issus either on the court or off?

 

[Bricklayer]

Does anybody know when Ron last had a season when he was not suspended (by his team or Stern) for behavioral issus either on the court or off?

I am 100% seriosu when I say I do not know if he has EVER had such a season.

Here is an ESPN timeline form this March (i.e. before he for instance announced he was going to retire, then changed his mind etc.) -- they don't include everything though, so its not clear. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2281289 But maybe his rookie season? And looks like in 01-02 he was "only" charged with harassment and contempt in another domestic violence case, but may not have been suspended. things definitely kicked into an even hihger wacky gear back around 02-03. Ironically this would be about the time Zeke claims that he caused Ron to become a better player. Myabe by encouraging him to channel Rodman.