Stephen Jackson Suspended for 7 games!

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Stephen Jackson and Ron Artest have been suspended seven games without pay by the NBA for recent scrapes with the law, the league announced Saturday.

Jackson, of the Golden State Warriors, was suspended for pleading guilty to criminal recklessness in Indiana, while Artest was suspended for pleading no contest to spousal abuse.

Both suspensions will begin with the first game of the 2007-08 NBA regular season.

Jackson pleaded guilty last month to a felony count of criminal recklessness for firing a gun outside a strip club last fall and was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and perform 100 hours of community service.

Artest was arrested and charged in March with assaulting his wife. He pleaded no contest to the charge in May and was sentenced to 100 hours of community service and a 10-day work project. </div>

Source: ESPN

 

3 games less than what I expected. I am content...

 

Better than going to jail for a year!

 

I wonder if he can use the 7 games any time of the season, like sick days

 

I don't get it. Weren't they punished by the courts and society already?

How can the NBA further enact punishment????!!!!????!!!!

This hurts the team and its fans. For example, last season the Phoenix Suns were gypped out of a legitimate run at a championship when two of its key players were suspended. The league has become too overbearing!!!

 

Because Jackson is an employee of NBA, and he represents NBA. In real workplace, if we commit a crime like Jackson did and served a sentence, we will get fired, that record will forever remains on our resume and works against us when we try to get another job. NBA has every right to suspend Jackson, and compare to the real world, it really is a slap on the wrist...

 

Yeah, I can understand. NBA is not the real world. IT is not just any other workplace. These guys are getting paid MILLIONS to play a kids game. A game with a little round ball. A game that parents have their kids play to keep them busy in the afternoon. MILLIONS. MILLIONS of dollars to play recreational sports for fun.

NBA is not real world. If you're lucky enough to be there, you have additional responsibilities, duties, and expectations. Don't come complaining because you have to speak to the media. Don't come whining because your complimentary room service filet-mignon was cooked medium instead of medium rare. Don't come crying because the brand new pair of sneakers that you get for EVERY game didn't come pre-laced by the ball boy. Do it yourself.

And if you get into trouble with the law, expect to hear from the commish. Jackson knows that, and I'll bet you a MILLION dollars he is stoked to be serving a 7-game suspension instead of a 60-day jail sentence.

And he has the NBA to thank for keeping him out of jail, no doubt.

 

<div class="quote_poster">AlleyOop Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Yeah, I can understand. NBA is not the real world. IT is not just any other workplace. These guys are getting paid MILLIONS to play a kids game. A game with a little round ball. A game that parents have their kids play to keep them busy in the afternoon. MILLIONS. MILLIONS of dollars to play recreational sports for fun.

NBA is not real world. If you're lucky enough to be there, you have additional responsibilities, duties, and expectations. Don't come complaining because you have to speak to the media. Don't come whining because your complimentary room service filet-mignon was cooked medium instead of medium rare. Don't come crying because the brand new pair of sneakers that you get for EVERY game didn't come pre-laced by the ball boy. Do it yourself.

And if you get into trouble with the law, expect to hear from the commish. Jackson knows that, and I'll bet you a MILLION dollars he is stoked to be serving a 7-game suspension instead of a 60-day jail sentence.

And he has the NBA to thank for keeping him out of jail, no doubt.</div>

Well said.

 

c;842717]Because Jackson is an employee of NBA, and he represents NBA. In real workplace, if we commit a crime like Jackson did and served a sentence, we will get fired, that record will forever remains on our resume and works against us when we try to get another job. NBA has every right to suspend Jackson, and compare to the real world, it really is a slap on the wrist...[/QUOTE]

I checked this out and this had to do with the CBA. The NBA can levy a suspension. The NBA players are contractual employees. However, they also are represented by a union, so I think they will lodge a grievance and have the suspension lessened if not rescinded.

As for real world, I don't disagree about the jail record, but if I plead guilty to criminal recklessness and received a suspended sentence, I don't think I'll be suspended from work or be fired (not that I have any plans to do so). I would have to take time off in order to go to court and make a defense, but a guilty plea would not necessarily mean termination.

It would remain a private matter unless it had a bearing on my work. As long as I was able to continue to do my job, then it shouldn't affect my job status.

If I went to jail, then it would be a different story as I couldn't continue to do my job.

I do agree though that sports, entertainment and higher profile people get more leeway in their field of endeavor as long as they can get someone to sign them to a contract or make exceptions because of their status. A lower level employee could get fired if the employer found out, but someone like Steve Jobs gets away with it even if the news hits the media.

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AlleyOop:</div><div class="quote_post">And if you get into trouble with the law, expect to hear from the commish. Jackson knows that, and I'll bet you a MILLION dollars he is stoked to be serving a 7-game suspension instead of a 60-day jail sentence.

And he has the NBA to thank for keeping him out of jail, no doubt.</div>

I get why Jackson received the suspension now, but still think Jackson will file a grievance with the union since he can do that by the CBA.

Now that you mention it, I wonder if the court did consider he was an NBA player. Sure, they may take extra precautions because of the publicity, but if they treated him different then it would be special treatment. We already went through that with Paris Hilton :0.