<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">NEW YORK -- NBA commissioner David Stern brought finality to Ron Artest's status Monday, reaffirming his season-long suspension of the Indiana Pacers forward. Stern had left the door open for Artest's reinstatement in recent interviews, but told The Indianapolis Star he believes Artest will benefit most from sitting out this season, including the playoffs. "Our goal is to do everything we possibly can to ensure Ron's return to the NBA next season is as smooth as it can possibly be," Stern said in an interview from the league's headquarters in Manhattan. "There's a lot of things we're participating in to that end and we're confident he'll be back as a contributing member of the Pacers and the NBA next season." Stern suspended Artest for the remainder of this season on Nov. 21, two days after Artest had gone into the stands at the Palace of Auburn Hills in response to being hit by a beverage thrown by a fan. He also suspended Stephen Jackson for 30 games and Jermaine O'Neal for 25 games, although O'Neal's penalty was later reduced to 15 games by an arbitrator and upheld in federal court. Stern acknowledged that he had considered shortening Artest's suspension. "At a certain point in the last week or two we decided the most important thing here is Ron's return to the NBA and the best path for that is through a program in which he's now engaged," Stern said</div> Source
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Timberwolf:</div><div class="quote_post">Artest should not have gotten his suspension reduced.</div> why not? i dont thnk he's the only one that should be blamed for weat happened...
