That's not what I am saying at all, how many careers has Malone ended? Of course he throws elbows, of course he does it on purpose, but rare indeed, in fact, I don't think he has ever pulled a stunt like Peeler did yesterday.
Peeler threw a hard elbow to Garnett's chest, knocking him to the ground on the other end of the floor and Garnett, still obviously in pain from it, unwisely retaliated on the other end. What Peeler did next was not just a little shove or a "frustration elbow", it was clean, hard intentional and vicious shot to Garnett's jaw, and it came very close to a shot to the throat, as punk and low class as you can get and to dismiss it as less than that is disingenuous. He aimed high and with intent to injure.
Malone may be dirty, and indeed sneaky about it, but let's not excuse Peeler's act as understandable while excoriating Malone, if Peeler had hit Garnett in the throat as hard as he threw that elbow, Garnett might not be playing game 7.
Dan,
You're either still drunk or don't know squat about Malone as a Jazz or Laker.
As a Laker, Malone's elbow to Steve Nash durring the regular season was worse than Peelers.
As a Jazz, Malone's elbow to Isiah Thomas was one of, if not the, most brutal shot I've ever seeen. K Willis shot on Scott Williams, Magic Johnson's shot on Isiah Thomas and JR Reids shot on AC Green rank right up there as well. Dirtiest play IMO is till K. McHale's clothsline of Rambus, but that was more of a take down than a shot.
Don't give me any crap about Zeke deserving those shots either.
Oh, please -- Zeke deserved EVERYTHING that he got -- on and off the court. Zeke was the HEART of the bad boys in Detroit -- he was just always more sly in his delivery. Zeke knows this and will even admit to it at times.
Malone is one of the dirtiest players in the NBA -- he simply will not allow anything to stop him from winning and he doesn't mind using his elbow or knee to emphasize that point. I respect many of his abilities on the court as well as his drive and work ethic but I will never respect his dirty play, period -- and it doesn't change, no matter what some fans believe, just because he changes into a different jersey.
While I think Peeler's move last night was inexcusable, I don't think it turns him into a thug. He hasn't shown that attitude to this point in his career, IMO. I think Miller is a thug -- he has shown that consistently in his career (and it hasn't changed just because he changed into a Kings jersey) but he is the only thug that I see on the Kings team. And KG should have been tossed in that game as well -- but only Peeler deserves to sit out game 7.
