The game was flowing like normal so it's not just as simple as saying "he planned to do that." You can't tell me you've never seen a slasher jump into the middle of traffic and get nailed by a big man before?
I think your failing to see my point. In the analogy, its the same "Action", but a different "Consequence". I'm not saying Bynum planned to puncture Wallace' lung. No. I'm saying Bynum commited a flagrant action (something you agree with) . . .
flagrant defined as unnecessary, Bynum was TOO LATE to perform a legitimate basketball play, but I digress . . . and that flagrant action resulted in a multi-day hospital stay and a punctured lung. It MIGHT have resulted in Wallace' death. Good thing for Gerald Wallace AND Andrew Bynum it didn't.
You don't like my handgun in a party analogy (btw I used that one b/c I witnessed it firsthand), lets go with pick-up basketball.
Your teammate gets beat, you're too late to help so you push the offensive player out of the air (lets say its a close heated game where every point counts and both teams want to win bad). This is the unchanging GIVEN, westkoast.
Scenario A: Guy gets up, pissed off at you for the dirty play, but otherwise unscathed. Words exchanged, foul called, their ball.
Scenario B: Guy trys to break his fall awkwardly and breaks his Humeres severing a brachial artery. Ambulance is called and he's rushed away in a gurney as he begins to go into shock from blood loss.
Question: Do you feel the same way about the situation in both scenario's? Would other people on the court feel the same way about the incident depending on what happened? After all, its a man's game, every point counted, and you did the hardnosed play. You didn't mean to injure him, you just didn't want to give up the easy layup. Do you understand?
There are rules against flagrant plays to
prevent the worst types of injuries from occuring. What makes Bynum's actions even more dubious is that it was in a meaningless regular season game. And the law differentiates between the SAME ACTION depending on the ensuing CONSEQUENCE. If that player your pushed wanted to sue you for Assault and Punitive Damages, he would sure have an easier time convincing the Judge in Scenario B that he would in Scenario A. Even though, you, Westkoast, performed the SAME ACTION with the same INTENTIONS in both scenario's.
