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Aftermath of a brawl
Globe and Mail Update
There are times when you just need to talk to Jalen Rose. For clarity, context and an every man's dose of common sense in the uncommon, nonsensical world that is the National Basketball Association.
The fallout of the brawl between the New York Knicks and the Denver Nuggets is just one of those times.
NBA commissioner David Stern handed down a total of $1-million in fines and 47 games in suspensions for the fight at Madison Square Garden last Saturday.
It was a wild scene and on the surface similar to the brawl between the Indian Pacers and some drunken Detroit Pistons fans at the Palace of Auburn Hills in 2004.
At their most basic, they're video-friendly melees that started from hard fouls, late in games that were already decided.
But similar isn't the same. Not even close. We could yawn on about the distinctions, subtle and not so subtle, between the Malice at the Palace and the Affair at Madison Square, but Rose does it better.
"They're two totally different incidents," Rose said. "In New York, that was [Denver guard] J.R. Smith trying to defend himself for what he felt was a hard foul. As opposed to Ron Artest running into the stands and punching a kid 200 pounds lighter than him, and it was the wrong person, [and] Stephen Jackson running up there like they was in somebody's alley. They're two totally different things, 100 per cent."
Had Auburn Hills never happened, it's quite likely that the reaction to Saturday's brawl would have been different, too. The suspensions a little shorter, the fines a little lighter and the news delivered by a simple news release, rather than Stern having a telephone conference call.
Consider the facts: A not-so-hard hard foul by Knicks rookie Mardy Collins on Smith to initiate thin-skinned responses by Smith and Knicks guard Nate Robinson (each of whom would have been voted "most likely to start a brawl out of nothing" had a pregame poll been taken) culminating in the Nuggets' Carmelo Anthony, the NBA's leading scorer, sending an open-handed slap at a restrained Collins before running away.
On the face of it, it's just more proof that NBA players are way too oversensitive to the odd hard foul, and amusingly bad at fighting. ("Typical NBA punch," Suns guard and hockey fan Steve Nash said of Anthony's slap and dash. "In hockey, your own team would beat you up for that.")
But Auburn Hills did happen. And arguably the darkest moment in league history still resonates. David Stern handed out 156 games in suspensions. He could have gone even heavier.
With that standard in the books, the cost of discipline has had some inflationary pressure.
Giving Collins six games when there are tougher fouls laid down in almost every NBA game? Ten games for Robinson, who clearly acted the fool, but who basically tackled a guy? Fifteen games for Anthony for a slap that didn't leave a mark?
Stiff maybe, but no one is going to lose sleep over it. If anything, Stern erred in not suspending Knicks coach Isiah Thomas, who appeared to set the stage for the drama by warning Anthony to stop driving the basket.
Read properly, Saturday's brawl shouldn't be another black eye for the NBA. It's another example that the NBA polices its own as well or better than any of the other professional sports.
Stern's handling of the Auburn Hills meltdown likely cost the Indiana Pacers an NBA championship.
The punishment handed down less than 48-hours (swift justice is a Stern specialty) after Saturday's game could well cost the Nuggets a playoff spot in the ultracompetitive Western Conference. The Knicks? Well, it's not as if they have much to lose.
Stern's stated goal is to eliminate fighting from his sport. His unstated goal is to rid the league of an image that tilts a little too gangster for its corporate good. The latter is the tougher of the two tasks.
Much as it might like to, the NBA can't do much when its players decide to shoot guns outside strip clubs in the wee hours of the morning. Dress codes and being more courteous to referees — image-building efforts instituted in the wake of Auburn Hills — only go so far.
But those measures and big fines and big suspensions for on-court transgressions allow Stern to send the message that the league's image is to be respected and protected.
An old hand such as Rose knows that Stern may never reach his goal. "There will always be fights," Rose said.
But it doesn't mean Stern shouldn't keep trying. Those tempted to view what went down at Madison Square Garden as another sign of a league gone wild should look at the punishment, and the crime.
Globe and Mail Update
There are times when you just need to talk to Jalen Rose. For clarity, context and an every man's dose of common sense in the uncommon, nonsensical world that is the National Basketball Association.
The fallout of the brawl between the New York Knicks and the Denver Nuggets is just one of those times.
NBA commissioner David Stern handed down a total of $1-million in fines and 47 games in suspensions for the fight at Madison Square Garden last Saturday.
It was a wild scene and on the surface similar to the brawl between the Indian Pacers and some drunken Detroit Pistons fans at the Palace of Auburn Hills in 2004.
At their most basic, they're video-friendly melees that started from hard fouls, late in games that were already decided.
But similar isn't the same. Not even close. We could yawn on about the distinctions, subtle and not so subtle, between the Malice at the Palace and the Affair at Madison Square, but Rose does it better.
"They're two totally different incidents," Rose said. "In New York, that was [Denver guard] J.R. Smith trying to defend himself for what he felt was a hard foul. As opposed to Ron Artest running into the stands and punching a kid 200 pounds lighter than him, and it was the wrong person, [and] Stephen Jackson running up there like they was in somebody's alley. They're two totally different things, 100 per cent."
Had Auburn Hills never happened, it's quite likely that the reaction to Saturday's brawl would have been different, too. The suspensions a little shorter, the fines a little lighter and the news delivered by a simple news release, rather than Stern having a telephone conference call.
Consider the facts: A not-so-hard hard foul by Knicks rookie Mardy Collins on Smith to initiate thin-skinned responses by Smith and Knicks guard Nate Robinson (each of whom would have been voted "most likely to start a brawl out of nothing" had a pregame poll been taken) culminating in the Nuggets' Carmelo Anthony, the NBA's leading scorer, sending an open-handed slap at a restrained Collins before running away.
On the face of it, it's just more proof that NBA players are way too oversensitive to the odd hard foul, and amusingly bad at fighting. ("Typical NBA punch," Suns guard and hockey fan Steve Nash said of Anthony's slap and dash. "In hockey, your own team would beat you up for that.")
But Auburn Hills did happen. And arguably the darkest moment in league history still resonates. David Stern handed out 156 games in suspensions. He could have gone even heavier.
With that standard in the books, the cost of discipline has had some inflationary pressure.
Giving Collins six games when there are tougher fouls laid down in almost every NBA game? Ten games for Robinson, who clearly acted the fool, but who basically tackled a guy? Fifteen games for Anthony for a slap that didn't leave a mark?
Stiff maybe, but no one is going to lose sleep over it. If anything, Stern erred in not suspending Knicks coach Isiah Thomas, who appeared to set the stage for the drama by warning Anthony to stop driving the basket.
Read properly, Saturday's brawl shouldn't be another black eye for the NBA. It's another example that the NBA polices its own as well or better than any of the other professional sports.
Stern's handling of the Auburn Hills meltdown likely cost the Indiana Pacers an NBA championship.
The punishment handed down less than 48-hours (swift justice is a Stern specialty) after Saturday's game could well cost the Nuggets a playoff spot in the ultracompetitive Western Conference. The Knicks? Well, it's not as if they have much to lose.
Stern's stated goal is to eliminate fighting from his sport. His unstated goal is to rid the league of an image that tilts a little too gangster for its corporate good. The latter is the tougher of the two tasks.
Much as it might like to, the NBA can't do much when its players decide to shoot guns outside strip clubs in the wee hours of the morning. Dress codes and being more courteous to referees — image-building efforts instituted in the wake of Auburn Hills — only go so far.
But those measures and big fines and big suspensions for on-court transgressions allow Stern to send the message that the league's image is to be respected and protected.
An old hand such as Rose knows that Stern may never reach his goal. "There will always be fights," Rose said.
But it doesn't mean Stern shouldn't keep trying. Those tempted to view what went down at Madison Square Garden as another sign of a league gone wild should look at the punishment, and the crime.
