Let's all read the small section and phrase of the rule that'll keep our star player from not getting suspended. If this is a black and white rule, let's start treating it as such.
When Baron Davis took a knee to AK's chest in the midst of poster-sizing him with that spectacular dunk. Stephen Jackson and Jason Richardson rushed to the scene while Baron inflamed the situation by showing the world his nipples. Due to the physical nature of the play and the actions of Jackson and Richardson, I label this play an altercation. I submit the NBA should have suspended Josh Powell, Sarunas Jasikevicius, Adonal Foyle, and Mikael Pietrus for leaving the bench area in reaction to Baron Davis' physical dunk. ...oh yeah and Baron Davis for his overly physical display and flagrant behavior.
The rule is absolutely stupid and bogus. The NBA had a unique opportunity to refine it into something that makes sense through their interpretations of what happened at the end of Game 4, and waved as the opportunity passed them by. Stupid, callous, ignorant, and exactly what I've come to expect from the NBA.
This is the result of lawyers making the rules in a vacuum. Anytime you see one of your friends hurt, you want to see what happened, how badly hurt they are, who did it and why. That is human nature. Passion is integral to pro-sports and the main part of the attraction. If it was just a ballet with robots- no one would care!
How can you have a game where feelings are so important, and then expect people to act like machines under certain circumstances? Obviously, there are limits to this behavior. If anyone watched the final game of the Utah Golden State series, you saw the petulant immature, behavior of Baron Davis and Steven Jackson. They were given well-deserved technicals for over-reacting to calls by the officials.
Same thing happened to Rasheed Wallace. Some people just don't know when to just shut up! And they continue to make the same mistakes over and over again. They may be very-talented athletes, but their lack of self-discipline is appalling.
Do the refs ever make a call where there is NO complaint by either side? Even stony-faced players like TD thow up their arms when a foul is called on them. But the difference between TD and Wallace is that TD doesn't say anything offensive, and treats most refs with respect.
It is as though the players take what the refs do personally, as though they were out to get them. It's comical when you watch it, as you can see the foul, sometimes in slow motion and it's CLEAR there was a foul, and yet the player says "who, me!" That is at the very least insulting. It isn't good sportsmanship and it isn't anything for fans to want to emulate.
Referees will never intentionally change the outcome of a game. That would be the worst thing they could do. They may miss calls, or even call the foul on the wrong player, but that is because they make mistakes. Things happen so fast out there that I doubt anyone here could do better. You don't have the advantage of slow-motion instant replay, and there's no time to look at the tape during the game.
Refs are part of the game, just as the arena, and baskets are. Arguing can only make matters worse. This is obvious, yet time and time again, I see players arguing a call while play continues. The league even put out a rule on this, but if they called a Technical every time someone argued a call. The games would take 4 hours.
See that! The NBA gives it's refs discretion in the interpretation of the rules. Too bad that Stern and the rest of the NBA wonks are incapable of such discretion themselves! No one besides Lurker thinks the NBA made the right call with the Suns. Charles Barkley, Steven A. Smith, every poll I saw all said the NBA was wrong to give those suspensions to Amare and Diaw.
