3 Game suspension a joke for Fortson

[Forrestham]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1673180


This is an absolute joke. He should have gotten a minimum of 15 games for this cheap shot

 

[NugzFan]

i saw the play last night but 15 games? no way the nba gives out that many. thats a HUGE suspension based on what theyve done in the past.

 

[Joe Mama]

Originally posted by NugzFan
i saw the play last night but 15 games? no way the nba gives out that many. thats a HUGE suspension based on what theyve done in the past.

I agree. It was a stupid, careless play, but there's nothing to indicate that he was actually trying to hurt Cabarkapa. I mean if the NBA is going to suspend forts in 15 games for that, Jahidi White could probably have been suspended for a game or two for some of the picks he has set.

I thought Danny Fortson should have been suspended for five games.

Joe Mama

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

I think Nelson should just bench him for a while after the suspension.

 

[schutd]

I know the punishment doesnt fit the crime, but we shouldnt expect anything different. The league NEVER suspends its players for worthy amounts of time. We're extra indignant right now as our guy took the brunt of that exchange, but lets just move on.

Expecting Dalla to bench him is silly, too. The Mavericks will obey the law laid down by the league. To do more would be a bad business move.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

I didn't say I expected it, its just what I want

 

[Forrestham]

I didn't mean he woukld get 15 games but when a cheap shot hurs a player I believe he should be suspended at least until the other player is ready to play. A 3 ame suspension is just a slap on the wrist

 

[Brian in Mesa]

I understand you're upset because Zarko broke his wrist due to Fortson's shove, but I think the NBA is suspending him for his actions (the shove) and not the secondary result (the wrist). Had Zarko landed differently and not hurt his wrist at all what would you be calling for?

As others have said I don't think the intent was to break a guy's wrist.

To me this is very different from a J.R.Reid cheapshot where a player directly hurts another player (elbow to face, etc).

 

[capologist]

It was a stupid, careless play, but there's nothing to indicate that he was actually trying to hurt Cabarkapa.

Whether or not there was intent to injure, there was, at the very least, reckless disregard for Zarko's safety.

It's like (in concept, not in magnitude) a drunk driver. He's not actually trying to kill anybody, but he knows, or damn well should know, that if he drives a car while intoxicated, there's a high likelihood that somebody will get killed. If somebody does get killed, the drunk driver will be liable for manslaughter (or, in some states, murder).

Fortson's flagrant foul is analogous. He may not have been trying to injure Zarko, but he knew, or damn well should have known, that if somebody is flying through the air like that and you place both hands on his chest and shove, there is a high likelihood of serious injury. Therefore, he should be held responsible for the injury that occurred.

 

[Chaplin]

For the NBA, Dallas = ratings. True, Fortson isn't a star player, but the NBA'll be damned if they get Cuban mad. Again.

 

[jbeecham]

3 freakin games??? Come on......guys have gotten 2 games for flipping off the fans. This guy recklessly endangered the career of another player when the game was extremely out of reach. Now if he had choked his own coach (although not seriously hurting him) then he would be suspended for a season without pay. But if you seriously hurt another player then you get a slap on the wrist.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

Originally posted by Brian in Mesa
I understand you're upset because Zarko broke his wrist due to Fortson's shove, but I think the NBA is suspending him for his actions (the shove) and not the secondary result (the wrist). Had Zarko landed differently and not hurt his wrist at all what would you be calling for?

But what if instead of landing on his wrist, he landed on his back/neck/head?

That is why intentionally taking out someone's legs (or completely flattening them) in mid air is the most dangerous aspect of this sport.

It is unpredictable how the person will land, with a good chance of major damage, even the possibility of death if they land on the wrong body part.

If it was a normal flagrant 2 foul where he grabbed his arm and threw him to the ground under the hoop, 3 games would suffice.

However, whenever a person purposely flips another player at that speed and height, the penalty should be much greater IMO.


Just like you said if didnt break the wrist, the outcry would not be so large. However, if he broke his neck, we would be calling for his head on a stick.

 

[schutd]

Originally posted by Chaplin
For the NBA, Dallas = ratings. True, Fortson isn't a star player, but the NBA'll be damned if they get Cuban mad. Again.

I think thats a bit of an overreaction. I think this suspension would have been the same anywhere across the league.

 

[BC867]

Originally posted by Forrestham
I didn't mean he woukld get 15 games but when a cheap shot hurts a player I believe he should be suspended at least until the other player is ready to play. A 3 game suspension is just a slap on the wrist

I agree. On a blatant 2-handed push while a man is in motion, he should be suspended until the other comes off the DL.

As others have said, I also hope that Zarco is not gun-shy when he returns, as Shawn was when he was undercut.

I was hoping that Zarco's play would move him into the starting 3 spot and move Marion to the 2, with Johnson coming off the bench at the 2 and 3 and Penny at the Point and 2.

That would have been, with Jake backing up Jahidi at Center (and I'd like to see Scott Williams backing up the 4) a strong 9-man rotation.

Frank may never have tried it, but now it postpones our finding out.

 

[Joe Mama]

I wouldn't count on ever seeing Shawn Marion at shooting guard on a regular basis. Not that I think it wouldn't be interesting to see.

Joe Mama

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Originally posted by thegrahamcrackr
If it was a normal flagrant 2 foul where he grabbed his arm and threw him to the ground under the hoop, 3 games would suffice.

I've only seen the play in replays...what kind of foul was called on Fortson, and was he ejected?

 

[Chaz]

He was called for a flagrant 2 and ejected.

 

[matt_whitlock]

Originally posted by Chaplin
For the NBA, Dallas = ratings. True, Fortson isn't a star player, but the NBA'll be damned if they get Cuban mad. Again.

You really think anybody would care if Danny Fortson wasn't playing? His absence would have no effect whatsoever on television ratings.

And since when has the NBA cared about making Mark Cuban angry? First of all, he's going to be angry about something anyhow, so they might as well make him mad over something worth while. Besides, Danny Fortson deserves to have the book thrown at him, and anybody with any brains knows that. Cuban is passionate about what he does, and sometimes that gets him into trouble, but he you can tell he prides himself on running a respectable, legitimate franchise.

There's no place for Fortson's actions in basketball, and Mark Cuban, Donnie Nelson, and the rest of the Mavericks know that.

That being said, believing that ratings has anything to do with the NBA's suspension is bogus. What Fortson did was wrong and cowardly and thuggish and $%@^'d up, but wanting anything more than 3 games is unrealistic. The NBA gives a one game suspension minimum for throwing a punch. Usually they suspend somebody 1 game for a flaggrant 2 foul. However, there's nothing the NBA can really do legally to hurt Fortson the way he hurt Zarko.

My main thing is, though, that this action was Danny Fortson's fault and his fault only. I'm pissed that it happened, but you have to be pissed at Fortson, not the NBA. Saying the NBA guys suspended Fortson while thinking mainly of themselves is really discrediting and disrespecting the NBA.