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News Flash: The NBA has suspended Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw one game, and Robert Horry two games for their actions in a scuffle at the end of Game 4 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals. Stoudemire and Diaw fall victim to the league’s rule that any player leaving the bench during an altercation is automatically suspended for a game.
Teddy’s Take: Not one of David Stern’s finer moments!
I understand rules are rules, but at some point, common sense has to prevail. This decision suspends two of the Suns most vital pieces, basically handicapping them for the most important game in what is, in essence, the NBA’s championship series, all because of a cheap shot by Horry on the Suns best player, Steve Nash.
Stoudemire and Diaw didn’t start the confrontation. They simply reacted emotionally to an unnecessarily aggressive play against the leader, and smallest player, on their team. Nash has been on the receiving end of overly physical, sometimes dirty, play by a San Antonio team clearly trying to intimidate what many people think is a soft Phoenix squad. No problem with that. It’s been part of basketball since the day the sport was invented. What doesn’t have a place in the game is what Horry did in a game that was basically over. Stern knows this, or he wouldn’t have suspended “Big Game Bob” two games for something that normally earns a fine. It’s an obvious attempt to make up for the fact the Suns are getting screwed by a stupid rule. The problem is, San Antonio is being rewarded for Horry’s actions.
Unfortunately for fans of the NBA, David Stern didn’t use any in this instance!
What do you think of the suspensions? Warranted? Excessive? Will they ultimately decide this series?
Teddy YES the suspensions were waranted and deserved rightly so. Playoffs or no playoffs the players need to learn to step getting off the bench and jumping into the mix. Besides Steve Nash and the Suns have earned this title they will get.
Shappy
You said it yourself. Rules are rules. You can't have one set for the regular season and a different set for the playoffs. Maybe the rule needs to be changed but it can't happen in the middle of the playoffs.
Stern needs to think outside the box and consider all the ramifications and in the end, do what's best for the game. Suspending everybody is just the easy way out of making a tough decision.
Shappy and MadDog, the rules were put in to keep players from entering the scrum. Neither Diaw nor Stoudemire got involved in the pushing and shoving. They never even got withing 5 feet of Horry or the pushing and shoving.
They reacted insinctively to their teammate getting leveled into the scorers table. If you were standing on a sidewalk and someone knocked over one of your friends, would you not instinctively move toward the situation? They stopped themselves. The coaches got involved. And the situation never escalated.
As I said, rules are rules. But they are broken and bent every single day. (Just ask the Utah Jazz who watched Michael Jordan push off to hit a game winning shot if the "rules" aren't bent when common sense dictates they should be)
As T2 said, the Commissioner could have been a "leader" in this instance and done the right thing. The George Brett pine tar incident was technically against the rules, but baseball used common sense and realized it was a stupid rule and the way it was being applied was not the spirit of the rule. Too bad Stern didn't do the same thing.
Mark my words, this rule will be changed in the offseason because everyone now realizes how stupid and damaging it can be. Shame on the NBA for letting this take away from the game on the court.
Exactly Teddy! Stern definitely could have handled this much better. I'm actually surprised he didn't. This reminds me of the foot in the crease rule the NHL had . . . totally ridiculous.
Stop agreeing with me, or people will think we actually like each other! I'm going to have to start ripping the Red Sox or something just to get you arguing with me again!