New DA article about Malone's hit

[thegrahamcrackr]

I haven't read something by DA that I have agreed with in a long time, but for the most part, he nails it right here.

Give me a break (Malone got one)

By David Aldridge
Special to ESPN.com

This is ridiculous.


Not suspending Karl Malone for Game 3 for his elbow to Darrick Martin's noggin gives aid and comfort to every Looney Tunes wing-nut conspiracy theorist who thinks it's preordained that the Forum Blue and Gold will be the West's representative in the Finals. No fewer than two coaches and three personnel guys at the Detroit-Indiana series had the same reaction within seconds of hearing that the league was only fining Malone $7,500: You know who they want in the Finals.


How can I counter that argument?


Believe me, I want to.


I know how hard the refs work, and when they do make mistakes, it's because they're human beings, not because they have a Nassau on the road team. I know the commish always points out that fixing games is a felony that would subject a lawyer such as himself to disbarment. But how on earth can Malone skate when the Kings' Anthony Peeler did the exact same thing to Kevin Garnett eight days ago, and (rightly) was deactivated for two games -- including the decisive Game 7 of the Minnesota-Sacramento series? I don't think Malone should have gotten two games, but he had to get one.


Look, I love Karl Malone. He's one of the great players of all time and he's on the short list of the most decent people to have graced a court. He has almost always been generous with his time to most reporters. (He wouldn't talk before games sometimes, but if you waited him out after a game, you got really good stuff.)


But what he did Sunday was vicious and unnecessary, with the game having long since been decided. It certainly looked like Malone was trying to either send a message for Game 3 or finish what had become a chippy fourth quarter for both teams. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't recall Martin instigating anything, and even if he did, he's a 6-foot, 190-pound guard.


I would not feel so strongly about this if the league A) hadn't been so adamant over the years about condemning any contact above the shoulder, whether it came from a punch or an elbow. The league's various chieftans of discipline have all said the same thing: windup, contact and follow-through are a flagrant foul, subject to suspension. And even if there's some question about whether to suspend a guy, this brings me to B).


The league always says that patterns of behavior are taken into account when disciplining players; i.e., if you do something once, you get disciplined X. You do something twice, you get disciplined X-plus. And so on. This escalating scale certainly seemed to be in place (correctly) with Dennis Rodman and Dikembe Mutombo. How many times over the years have we seen The Mailman hit somebody in the head? Isiah Thomas, Steve Nash, Brian Grant and David Robinson come to mind. Every time, Malone is utterly unrepentant, and that's his right. But the league shouldn't condone that kind of behavior.


I'm sure if I called Stu Jackson, he'd give me a rational, detailed reason why Malone gets to be introduced by my man Lawrence Tanter at Staples on Tuesday in the starting lineup. But this time, I don't buy it.


In this case, I'll believe my lying eyes.

 

[sly fly]

I haven't read something by DA that I have agreed with in a long time, but for the most part, he nails it right here.

Karl Malone needs to be caught blindsided by a forearm shiver to the nuts from Mark Madsen.

Then, he needs to step on his head.

Maybe that will knock the holy third-person out of him.

 

[George O'Brien]

I'm sure that not all elbow hits are intentional, but Malone has made a career of them. Even when he gets technical fouls, it still works because opponents tend to back off - which is his purpose. But as questionable as those tactics are, they do not compare to efforts to intentionally hurt people.

Malone has had a great career. It would be a shame if he ended it by acting like a pure thug.

 

[Southpaw]

I'm sure that not all elbow hits are intentional, but Malone has made a career of them. Even when he gets technical fouls, it still works because opponents tend to back off - which is his purpose. But as questionable as those tactics are, they do not compare to efforts to intentionally hurt people.

Malone has had a great career. It would be a shame if he ended it by acting like a pure thug.

May as well go out the way he has always played. A cheap shot thug. Why change now? He's been cheap shotting little guys his whole career.

 

[scotsman13]

I'm sure that not all elbow hits are intentional, but Malone has made a career of them. Even when he gets technical fouls, it still works because opponents tend to back off - which is his purpose. But as questionable as those tactics are, they do not compare to efforts to intentionally hurt people.

Malone has had a great career. It would be a shame if he ended it by acting like a pure thug.

george i respect most things you have had to say but i think that you here. malone has always been a thug. how many suns has he put out of action over the years? elliot perry, joe kleine, pat garrity and this is just since i started watching every game. how many before that? how many players has he hurt over the years? he has shown time and time again that he doesnt care about anyone else out there on the court besides himself and he doesnt care if they get hurt. heck he even took one of his own teammates out for a good bit of games a couple years back. malone is a thug or a better word would be maddog and he should be put down.

 

[George O'Brien]

george i respect most things you have had to say but i think that you here. malone has always been a thug. how many suns has he put out of action over the years? elliot perry, joe kleine, pat garrity and this is just since i started watching every game. how many before that? how many players has he hurt over the years? he has shown time and time again that he doesnt care about anyone else out there on the court besides himself and he doesnt care if they get hurt. heck he even took one of his own teammates out for a good bit of games a couple years back. malone is a thug or a better word would be maddog and he should be put down.

Where is Rick Mahorn when we really need him?