Indiana Pacer forward Ron Artest charges a fan in Detroit Friday. This was not just one player, it was more like a full scale riot.
Background and links to coverage – Wes Roth
Video at The Daily Recycler.
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Kevin
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Wow…
if i’m not mistaken- this is the first fan Artest has attacked. But again, it’s Artest, so I could be wrong.
Mike Tyson wasn’t even this crazy, and they kicked him out of boxing for a long while. Give Artest the break he was asking for so he could promote his rap album (that no one cares about), but make sure it’s a long (permanant) break. Truly a disgrace to professional basketball.
Owners should learn to pick players that possess skill and maturity. When you sacrifice one for the other, this is what happens.
This is what happens when you get the “gang” mentality these thugs grew up with. I am appalled that so many white teens support the trash put out in hip hop and the gang mentality within it. The obvious result is gangbangers who can play ball but have no respect for the sport or its fans. Not to mention the mindless followers who support their “teams” players. Has no one noticed the rise in the last 5 years in the thugs who have entered professional sports? Yet the team owners support this activity, it sells tickets, it sells rap, and it sell shoes, soft drinks, and a message of no matter how stupid you are, there will always be a place for you on a pro sports roster. I am sick of the tatoos and illiterate showing of what pro sports has become, and the thought of spending $300 to take my family to watch thugs play… no thanks.
What’s sad is, these men (pampered, spoiled boys?) have come to define the NBA. We’re all more familiar with the antics of Artest, Latrell Sprewell, and Allen Iverson than we are with players that are BETTER, both on and off the court (like last year’s – and most likely this year’s – MVP Kevin Garnett, who still addresses reporters with “sir” and “ma’am,” plus plenty of other quality things he does), but these bad boys of the NBA always trump the true role models.
Another note- all the suspended players were All-Stars last year. How much do you wanna bet that fans won’t hesistate to vote these guys into the All-Star game again this year?
That fan should be punnished, and rightly so. So should the players, but from early reports the fan threw a beer bottle from point blank range.
Is it wrong of me to find this whole episode rather amusing? When I saw the video on Fox I couldn’t help but laugh. I do feel sorry for parents who spent several hundred bucks on a night out and got to see a riot instead.
Just another example of why pro basketball has been unwatchable since the early 90s. It’s filled with thugs and criminals.
So how is M.C. Artest’s album doing?
Look for hte Clemson brawl video.. It’s pretty hardcore.
I am of the opinion that the FANS should be charged with misconduct. Wallace should be charged according to NBA rules and regulations concerning players attacking other players (in soccer it would merit a red card and expulsion or suspension from the league depending oncircumstances – that is depending on the report the officials file), and of course Artest and Jackson should be sanctioned by the NBA as well (I think they have, been barred for life from the NBA).
HOWEVER there are no rules or regs concerning FAN misconduct. So therefore the only way is for police to charge the fan who threw the bottle /beer on artest with assault and battery.
I of course am speaking from my experience as a soccer referee and player.
by the way, the story that I read at Yahoo said that the fan “tossed a cup” at artest, when the television story said “threw a bottle”.
there is a MAJOR difference between a beer bottle (glass) being THROWN ATand a PAPER cup being TOSSED.
AP needs to get their shit together and stop spinning stories in favor of the fans.
Artest get’s suspended for the rest of the season
I of course am speaking from my experience as a soccer referee and player.
by the way, the story that I read at Yahoo said that the fan “tossed a cup” at artest, when the television story said “threw a bottle”.
there is a MAJOR difference between a beer bottle (glass) being THROWN ATand a PAPER cup being TOSSED.
AP needs to get their shit together and stop spinning stories in favor of the fans.
Artest get’s suspended for the rest of the season
Thugs,gangsters,reprobates,sub-humans,punks,a-holes,frozen vegetables,druggies,rapists,adulterers,wife beaters,hot doggers,self-servers,ego-maniacs,the dregs of society…our kids HEROES.WAKE UP AMERICA !!!
Shit like this is why I don’t watch the NBA anymore.
BurbankErnie complained about white teens identifying with the hip-hop culture (in so many words). Please rethink your statement. The problem is not a racial problem, it’s a cultural problem. I get angry when people only seem to be concerned about something when “white” teens become involved. As long as only “black” teens where involved, it was “their” problem–“those” people, etc. I hate the whole rap, hip-hop, thug culture as much as anybody, but please don’t classify it as a racial issue.
I disagree with the way the NBA i s dealin with this those fans (i hate to say this but they deserved it) they tell people at all sporting events to reframe from throwing or running out of the stands at all times,these people should have stayed out of players business if i was artest i would have done the same thing, the NBA was too harsh on Artest he was just defending himself and his teammates had his back, this has nothin to do wit hip-hop but rather it has to do the individual fan to sit down and enjoy a game and let the officials do the officiating
I disagree with the way the NBA i s dealin with this those fans (i hate to say this but they deserved it) they tell people at all sporting events to reframe from throwing or running out of the stands at all times,these people should have stayed out of players business if i was artest i would have done the same thing, the NBA was too harsh on Artest he was just defending himself and his teammates had his back, this has nothin to do wit hip-hop but rather it has to do the individual fan to sit down and enjoy a game and let the officials do the officiating
First of all it was a cup NOT a bottle, and the fan had no right to throw it and should not be allowed to another game and maybe fined, but Artest should never be allowed to play in the NBA again along with Jackson and Oneil. Nobody bothered to mention that these three idiots hit everybody but the guy who actually threw the CUP not bottle (HENRY). Hopefully when the fans get done suing these players they won’t have a penny left to their name, because that is what these players deserve.
I think these players need to remember that without the fans they don’t get paid.
Simple solution. STOP selling alcohol at sporting events.
Was Artest wrong for what he did? Yes. Was the fan wrong for what he did? Yes. If this situation happen with anybody else would they have done the same thing? Probably. Face facts, if your excited and ready to fight and some body throws a drink in your face you’re gonna fight. Those of you who can’t believe something like this could ever happen, are the little kids who got punched in the face as children, got their girlfriends stolen from them as teens, and haver a cheating wife/girlfriend at home waiting for you to finish up what the cable guy already started, cause you’re too scared to stand up for yourselves.