http://www.insidehoops.com/nba_rumors.shtml Very top Direct link to david stern's actual words about this is http://www.insidehoops.com/suspensions-fight-121806.shtml
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">uggets forward Carmelo Anthony has been suspended for 15 games. ? Knicks guard Nate Robinson has been suspended for 10 games. ? Nuggets guard J.R. Smith has been suspended for 10 games. ? Knicks guard Mardy Collins has been suspended for six games. ? Knicks forward Jared Jeffries has been suspended for four games. ? Knicks center Jerome James has been suspended for one game for leaving the bench during an on-court altercation. ? Nuggets forward Nene has been suspended one game for leaving the bench during an on-court altercation.</div>The Nuggets badly need Iverson now.
I expected at least 20 games for Melo, 15 is going to really hurt Denver's season. I don't agree with Mardy getting 6 games for giving a hard foul.
way too harsh just for a little brawl. David Stern is such a fascist. People seemed to love it when players scuffled back in the 80's. No one ever said the Larry Bird was a bad example for getting in fights. Think race might have something to do with it?
<div class="quote_poster">Pakman Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I believe Nate should have gotten more games.</div> Agreed. If it weren't for him it might not have escalated further. Same with Melo actually.
<div class="quote_poster">olskoolFunktitude Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">way too harsh just for a little brawl. David Stern is such a fascist. People seemed to love it when players scuffled back in the 80's. No one ever said the Larry Bird was a bad example for getting in fights. Think race might have something to do with it?</div> definitely not. It more or less has to do with the direction and demographic the NBA is now trying to attain.
<div class="quote_poster">Pakman Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I believe Nate should have gotten more games.</div> He and J.R. were equally wrong in the scuffle. They were both fighting in the crowd. I agree with shape. I thought Melo should be gone at least 20 games for taking the issue to another level.
<div class="quote_poster">MrJ Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I agree with shape. I thought Melo should be gone at least 20 games for taking the issue to another level.</div> Nate escalated it, too. C'mon, he was jumping around everywhere trying to fight everyone.
<div class="quote_poster">olskoolFunktitude Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">way too harsh just for a little brawl. David Stern is such a fascist. People seemed to love it when players scuffled back in the 80's. No one ever said the Larry Bird was a bad example for getting in fights. Think race might have something to do with it?</div> You bring up a great point, and it's something I've been trying to figure out. The 1980's seemed to the pinnacle for the sport and the fans ate up these skirmishes and hardnosed plays. When ever you listen to former players from that era, they always talk about how soft the league has become. David Stern is trying to appease a certain fan base, but the sport was most popular in the 1980's, when players were allowed to mix it up on the court. Now fans have to sit through teams competing at a free throw contest.
<div class="quote_poster">Pakman Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Nate escalated it, too. C'mon, he was jumping around everywhere trying to fight everyone.</div> There's a difference. Melo actually hit somone. Pumping up your fists and actually hitting somone is different.
<div class="quote_poster">MrJ Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">There's a difference. Melo actually hit somone. Pumping up your fists and actually hitting somone is different.</div> Did Nate not go at JR and tackle him? Even though in the video it looks like his plan to tackle backfired.
<div class="quote_poster">GotSkillz92 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">No JR tackled Nate. Then Nate had him on a headlock on the ground.</div> Nate came running "trying" to tackle JR. He started that little fight in the corner, but he ended up getting thrown by JR. Is it his fault his ass got thrown? Yes, he's the one that came running at JR.
I was expecting the suspensions to be a little harsher seeing that Stern has gotten a little stricter, but man, this will cost Nuggets big time!
I am surprised that Nate, JR Smith and especially Melo got the suspensions they did. I think that all three should've been more severe; I am of the opinion that Melo should get no less than 20 games, and JR and Nate should've each gotten 15. When you break it down, those were the three individuals who were most involved; they were the ones throwing punches, Nate and JR tumbled into the stands. Melo, as a superstar, hit a guy after the bulk of the melee was done. That in itself warrants a BIG suspension, IMO. As Stern said, the NBA has a HUGE image problem right now due to the lingering effects of the Pistons/Pacers incident, and plenty of other things, so to see a superstar like Melo lose his cool shows a real flaw. If any players should be mature enough and have enough perspective to avoid this type of incident, it's the star players. And Melo is one of the 10 most recognized faces in the league. If Stern and the league are going to use superstars to set an example with the technical foul/whining rules, they sure as **** should take the same stance with brawling - if a star gets in on it, you throw the book at him and let people know that this WILL NOT be tolerated. As oldskool pointed out, a situation like this will bring up issues of race, which I don't want to see taint this discussion. I do, however, want to say that I don't believe that race should play a big role in this. Is the NBA predominantly black? Yes. So is the NFL, which, as far as I can remember, has never had an on-field brawl spill into the stands where fans spend their hard earned dollars to enjoy a game...let alone two brawls. There was an on-field brawl in NCAA football between Clemson and South Carolina a couple years back, and I'm sure most players on those teams are black, also. What happened? The book got thrown at them, the players involved didn't play in their teams' bowl games. Think about that - are these suspensions carrying into the postseason? No. These guys are getting off easier than many others would've so I really don't want to hear people saying it's a racial thing. That would be making another mountain out of another molehill, and the issue's been beaten to death far too many times already. Back to my origional point. If the league really is concerned about its image, they should smack the players involved as hard as they can. I don't know about the rest of you guys, but IMO this is a pretty uniquely NBA situation now that it's happened twice. As a result, the NBA needs to take the type of action that ensures this will never happen again. We're all pretty desensitized to things like this anymore, but honestly, this behavior is so totally unacceptable it's not even funny. And it can't be allowed to continue. I hope that Melo and everyone else learned one hell of a lesson from this incident, but if history and the lenient suspensions are any indicator, they probably didn't, nor did the rest of the league.
<div class="quote_poster">Pakman Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Nate came running "trying" to tackle JR. He started that little fight in the corner, but he ended up getting thrown by JR. Is it his fault his ass got thrown? Yes, he's the one that came running at JR.</div> No JR came out of nowhere and tackled Nate. JR lost his balance and ended up on the floor with Nate on top of him. Nate just pushed him off Collins before that.
<div class="quote_poster">Pakman Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Nate came running "trying" to tackle JR. He started that little fight in the corner, but he ended up getting thrown by JR. Is it his fault his ass got thrown? Yes, he's the one that came running at JR.</div> what fight were you watching?!? Nate didnt do anything but pose a little and make fists. he defended himself when JR jumped on him in the crowd..and even though he could of, he never threw a punch at JR. he slapped away carmelo's hand when melo grabbed him by the throat No way in hell nate should get onlky 5 games less than melo, who threw a pathetic "punch" coughslapcough, then ran away behind his bench. 6 games to Collins is an insult.....he was pretty calm after the foul, which was hard but not THAT hard. How do they figure he deserves 6 when JR smith gets 10...insanity
