Clippers' Austin Rivers fined $25K for throwing cushion that hit fan in stands (Ball Don't Lie)

[King Baller]

Rivers made a mistake and the NBA thinks it warrants a 25k fine. That is the standard right there.

Also we are not talking about a pillow here folks. How much does a "6 inch thick cushion" weigh? Then there is the fact that the Clippers haul these around the country and SIT on them all game long. Some might find that gross and distasteful. Rivers should ask the Clippers Legal Department to negotiate it for him. I'm sure Ballmer has a guy.

 

[King Baller]

"I'm so disappointed as a parent," Doc Rivers joked about the cushion throw.

"Fit of rage?"

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/1...ustin-rivers-throwing-seat-cushion-struck-fan

 

[Section 101]

Hold on. He wasn't gently tossing a jersey or ball to someone in the crowd as a gift/reward. He, in anger, intentionally flung a firm padded seat cushion at a high velocity and hit a lady in the face, knocking out a contact lens and causing a minor injury. Emphasis on minor, but causing injury.

I don't think she should sue, and I doubt anyone is seriously considering it. Yes, he apologized. Good for him. The fine is still valid though for intentionally throwing an object from the floor into the stands in that manner. The things thrown into the stands promotionally by players/staff are soft/light like t-shirts or small nerf-type balls, and they are not hurled at high velocity directly at people somewhat near the floor.

It's an automatic ejection too. He should be suspended for tonight's game.

 

[Dreadnought]

You're hustling backwards here. If you think that people are engaging in double standards when it comes to enforcing the rules, the solution is not to stop enforcing the rules. And, if you think that people are engaging in double standards when it comes to criticizing bad behavior, the solution is not to stop criticizing bad behavior, either.

And I think you misinterpreted what I said or I'm just not clear in what I was trying to say. If anything, I'm rallying for exactly what you said. I am not saying to "stop enforcing", I'm saying to have consistency in your enforcement. Our guys do stuff all the time. Cousins has kicked a chair before. What if that chair had hit a fan? People do stuff when they're angry, but our little angels get away with a pass form our fans while an already unlikable guy like Rivers does it and he's Hitler. I think we as fans need to be consistent in our judgement of NBA players without playing favorites. That's what I'm saying.

 

[Dreadnought]

Could you elaborate? I cannot recall any instance where DMC caused injury to a fan.

You're right, there hasn't been any happenings yet. But he has kicked chairs and thrown headbands into crowds. Chairs can fly. It could be any day that he kicks a chair and it hits a fan. Is he an outright butthead for that? I don't think so. I think things happen and people should just relax.

 

[nebs]

She lost a contact? Oh no! Eye watered? She doesn't deserve a bunch of money for that. She will probably get it tho. Just not my style.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

I am not saying to "stop enforcing", I'm saying to have consistency in your enforcement.

Disclaimer: I've already gone on record as not liking Cousins and, my appreciation for his talent aside, I'm still not a fan. With that said...

I'll take your word for it that that's what you meant. But, the way it came across was, "You guys aren't criticizing Cousins enough." Cousins was not involved in this incident, and there's no purpose to bring him into it, other than to make sure that everybody knows that you don't think that Cousins has been adequately chastised for the sins of his past.

I mean, if you feel as though Cousins should be shunned until he has either been disciplined to your satisfaction for his bad attitude, or until he has shown whatever you consider to be the proper level of contrition for his previous transgressions, well... there's not anything that I can do about that. As for me, despite the fact that I don't like the guy, I'm willing to acknowledge that he hasn't done anything to merit scorn this season, and let it go at that. Instead of asking, "Why are you giving Cousins a pass, and treating Austin Rivers like Hitler?" (And, come on, Hitler? Really? You Godwin-ized a thread about Austin F. Rivers?), why don't we wait to see if Cousins is going to do anything else stupid going forward, before we accuse people of giving him a pass on stupid behavior?

tl;dr: Austin Rivers is not receiving an unfair level of criticism over this. Whether Cousins has been allowed to "get away" with bad behavior in the past is beside the point.

 

[Dreadnought]

Disclaimer: I've already gone on record as not liking Cousins and, my appreciation for his talent aside, I'm still not a fan. With that said...

I'll take your word for it that that's what you meant. But, the way it came across was, "You guys aren't criticizing Cousins enough." Cousins was not involved in this incident, and there's no purpose to bring him into it, other than to make sure that everybody knows that you don't think that Cousins has been adequately chastised for the sins of his past.

I mean, if you feel as though Cousins should be shunned until he has either been disciplined to your satisfaction for his bad attitude, or until he has shown whatever you consider to be the proper level of contrition for his previous transgressions, well... there's not anything that I can do about that. As for me, despite the fact that I don't like the guy, I'm willing to acknowledge that he hasn't done anything to merit scorn this season, and let it go at that. Instead of asking, "Why are you giving Cousins a pass, and treating Austin Rivers like Hitler?" (And, come on, Hitler? Really? You Godwin-ized a thread about Austin F. Rivers?), why don't we wait to see if Cousins is going to do anything else stupid going forward, before we accuse people of giving him a pass on stupid behavior?

tl;dr: Austin Rivers is not receiving an unfair level of criticism over this. Whether Cousins has been allowed to "get away" with bad behavior in the past is beside the point.

Right, I agree with the first part. I'm still pretty adamant that our conversation is derailed and you misinterpreted me. First, I never targeted you as a Cousins-praiser, you replied to me. I was generalizing Kings fans. I was not trying to include Cousins as anything other than a hypothetical example. He was just the first guy that came to my mind when I thought of the bad-attitude-fans-hating-on-him prototype of guys on our team.

And while I can admit my Hitler comparison was exaggerated (I had assumed my sarcasm would've gotten through, it's a common internet metaphor), my point still stands that there is a massive "our Kings players are holier than thou" movement on this forum. Rivers' fine is fair, the criticism is fair. I just didn't think there needed to be a witch hunt.

 

[itzcoatl]

I don't know why many here are saying the fan shouldn't sue. We have no idea what her injury is. Austin River is a 6'4" 200 pound man who threw a 5 to 6 inch cushion at a woman hard enough that it knocked out a contact lense. she was apparently struck in the head which I imagine violently knocked her neck backwards.

One of the biggest myths that billion-dollar insurance companies have infected our society with is that we are "sue happy." The statistics just don't back that up. I recently watched the documentary "Hot Coffee" which was a real eye-opener because it discussed all the misinformation around the McDonalds "hot coffee" law suit. It's really a shame what insurance companies have done to our perception of the civil justice system. If you don't believe the public campaign that insurance companies have waged against our civil justice system, just do some research about who were the biggest donors to the removal of California's Chief Justice Rose Bird. Hint: her court had some decisions that were very bad for insurance companies.

 

[Bricklayer]

Trust me on this: we're pretty sue happy.

 

[itzcoatl]

We won't be for long if corporations keep jamming arbitration clauses into every agreement imaginable.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/11/0...acking-the-deck-of-justice.html?_r=1&referer=