http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/14247529p-15065116c.html
Ailene Voisin: League unfairly judges by his reputation
By Ailene Voisin -- Bee Sports Columnist
Published 2:15 am PDT Tuesday, April 25, 2006
SAN ANTONIO - Generally speaking, Ron Artest makes a really lousy defendant. His NBA rap sheet runs the length of a CD. He has been fined, suspended and scolded too many times to mention. He has been banned from a building (Conseco Fieldhouse) and, in so many stern words, warned by the commissioner that his next bad deed could be his final act.
But a one-game suspension?
Cruel and unusual.
Though Artest certainly deserves to be punished for aiming that high forearm at Manu Ginobili's jaw - headhunting is prohibited even in big games - benching the Kings' best player for Game 2 is excessive both on its face (Manu said he felt little pain) and in a much larger context (see Artest bio). Old history shouldn't weigh more heavily than the more recent past.
Prior bad acts shouldn't result in a life sentence, and yet, based on Monday's ruling, Artest's baggage seems to have followed him all the way to Sacramento.
"There was no flagrant foul," league vice president Stu Jackson explained from his office in Manhattan. "This is a 'contact' rule. The action we're taking is because of the fact Ron made contact with Manu Ginobili's head. While the contact was not severe, it was a potentially dangerous play. And the fact he is a recidivist was taken into account."
Recidivist?
Jackson threw me on that one.
Artest threw an elbow. Artest made a mistake. Give him a break.
There was no lingering harm - so says Ginobili - and until Jackson reviewed the game tape, there wasn't even a foul.
Yet Jackson speaks about Artest as if the small forward were a criminal, a repeat offender from Folsom, instead of a player who has modified his behavior and maintained his composure since being traded to the Kings three months ago. One technical. Two or three animated chats with referees. End of issues until Game 1.
As a matter of fact, the league should be delivering roses to his doorstep instead of slapping him with subpoenas.
Artest, 26, has been a basketball boon to the region, a professional athlete who signs autographs, grants interviews and avoids confrontations even when baited by the league's premier provocateurs. The sellout streak at Arco Arena survives because of Artest. The Kings made the playoffs because of Artest. This series has become intriguing again ... because of Artest.
"For us it is a good thing (the suspension), because he is a great player," said the amiable Ginobili, who bloodied Artest's mouth with his own inadvertent elbow earlier in the game. "I didn't see exactly how it was. He raised his elbow and hit me in the face. (But) no, it didn't hurt me."
The more appropriate punishment would have been to fine Artest a few million, chastise him for a few more minutes and then send him back onto the floor. Among other factors to consider, this is the postseason, when the style of play becomes more physical and more intense because there is so much more at stake. The league rules can be rewritten and strengthened annually, which they invariably are, but players will continue to direct forearms and place hands on all the inappropriate places.
Thus, the suspicion lingers. What if Bruce Bowen had taken that shot Saturday night? If Mike Bibby had been the King swinging his arm? Would they have received the same sentence? Maybe yes. Maybe no.
"Mike Bibby would have been suspended," Jackson insisted, only to reiterate his previous comments. The penalty fits the crime, he says, because the culprit is Ron Artest. In so many unspoken words, league officials are enforcing a system of preventative measures. Send him to his room now so you don't have to spank him later. And while there is some logic in this, and the easy response is simply to remind everyone that, hey, This is Ron Artest!, this isn't justice.
Though hardly a victim - and he would be wise to avoid that potential black hole - Artest on Monday still sounded like someone who had just escaped a dentist's chair. His words were few, and mostly jumbled.
"Obviously everybody knows I'm upset about it," he said in brief remarks at the AT&T Center. "I talked to Stu, which was encouraging. He told me I was suspended due to a whole lot of things that happened in my career ... which is not fair."
No, this time he makes a great argument.
About the writer: Reach Ailene Voisin at (916) 321-1208 or avoisin@sacbee.com.
Ailene Voisin: League unfairly judges by his reputation
By Ailene Voisin -- Bee Sports Columnist
Published 2:15 am PDT Tuesday, April 25, 2006
SAN ANTONIO - Generally speaking, Ron Artest makes a really lousy defendant. His NBA rap sheet runs the length of a CD. He has been fined, suspended and scolded too many times to mention. He has been banned from a building (Conseco Fieldhouse) and, in so many stern words, warned by the commissioner that his next bad deed could be his final act.
But a one-game suspension?
Cruel and unusual.
Though Artest certainly deserves to be punished for aiming that high forearm at Manu Ginobili's jaw - headhunting is prohibited even in big games - benching the Kings' best player for Game 2 is excessive both on its face (Manu said he felt little pain) and in a much larger context (see Artest bio). Old history shouldn't weigh more heavily than the more recent past.
Prior bad acts shouldn't result in a life sentence, and yet, based on Monday's ruling, Artest's baggage seems to have followed him all the way to Sacramento.
"There was no flagrant foul," league vice president Stu Jackson explained from his office in Manhattan. "This is a 'contact' rule. The action we're taking is because of the fact Ron made contact with Manu Ginobili's head. While the contact was not severe, it was a potentially dangerous play. And the fact he is a recidivist was taken into account."
Recidivist?
Jackson threw me on that one.
Artest threw an elbow. Artest made a mistake. Give him a break.
There was no lingering harm - so says Ginobili - and until Jackson reviewed the game tape, there wasn't even a foul.
Yet Jackson speaks about Artest as if the small forward were a criminal, a repeat offender from Folsom, instead of a player who has modified his behavior and maintained his composure since being traded to the Kings three months ago. One technical. Two or three animated chats with referees. End of issues until Game 1.
As a matter of fact, the league should be delivering roses to his doorstep instead of slapping him with subpoenas.
Artest, 26, has been a basketball boon to the region, a professional athlete who signs autographs, grants interviews and avoids confrontations even when baited by the league's premier provocateurs. The sellout streak at Arco Arena survives because of Artest. The Kings made the playoffs because of Artest. This series has become intriguing again ... because of Artest.
"For us it is a good thing (the suspension), because he is a great player," said the amiable Ginobili, who bloodied Artest's mouth with his own inadvertent elbow earlier in the game. "I didn't see exactly how it was. He raised his elbow and hit me in the face. (But) no, it didn't hurt me."
The more appropriate punishment would have been to fine Artest a few million, chastise him for a few more minutes and then send him back onto the floor. Among other factors to consider, this is the postseason, when the style of play becomes more physical and more intense because there is so much more at stake. The league rules can be rewritten and strengthened annually, which they invariably are, but players will continue to direct forearms and place hands on all the inappropriate places.
Thus, the suspicion lingers. What if Bruce Bowen had taken that shot Saturday night? If Mike Bibby had been the King swinging his arm? Would they have received the same sentence? Maybe yes. Maybe no.
"Mike Bibby would have been suspended," Jackson insisted, only to reiterate his previous comments. The penalty fits the crime, he says, because the culprit is Ron Artest. In so many unspoken words, league officials are enforcing a system of preventative measures. Send him to his room now so you don't have to spank him later. And while there is some logic in this, and the easy response is simply to remind everyone that, hey, This is Ron Artest!, this isn't justice.
Though hardly a victim - and he would be wise to avoid that potential black hole - Artest on Monday still sounded like someone who had just escaped a dentist's chair. His words were few, and mostly jumbled.
"Obviously everybody knows I'm upset about it," he said in brief remarks at the AT&T Center. "I talked to Stu, which was encouraging. He told me I was suspended due to a whole lot of things that happened in my career ... which is not fair."
No, this time he makes a great argument.
About the writer: Reach Ailene Voisin at (916) 321-1208 or avoisin@sacbee.com.
, I honestly started laughing after reading that(and I don't usually laugh while reading the internet).
