Perfect

Perfect?

Why don't you hire a few fans to chuck stuff at Garnett, Sprewell (he may lose it!) and Duncan/Manu while you're at it? Give them a few grand and have them harass those 4 into diving into the stands. Then there'd be two less teams competing as well.

Artest lost it - big deal. Now he's been fined $5 MILLION dollars for pushing someone to the ground and punching at a few fans? It entirely wrecks the balance of the East in the sport you want us to care about and it's "perfect?"

I speak as a huge fan - someone who emailed you and knew of you long before blogmaverick, but I can't agree with you on this one. Perfect? If this was Jon Barry, he'd have gotten Vern Maxwell's 10 games. Instead, it's 3 members (one who DID NOT LEAVE THE FLOOR) of one of the elite teams in your sport. One has a bad rep. So he gets chucked for the season??

There's something seriously wrong with that.

Matt

The question here is "Would you let people harass you verbally and physically for a $5mil/year salary?" Players have to expect this kind of treatment and act professionally. Tradeoffs are a *itch, but no job is perfect, even Mark's!

Completely agree! Great comments. Artest has been a thorn in the side of the NBA for too long. We don't need folks like him. He taints the purity of the game.

"Artest lost it - big deal. Now he's been fined $5 MILLION dollars for pushing someone to the ground and punching at a few fans?"

Not true. It isn't up to the NBA to fine him for that. The criminal courts will be in charge of that. Artest is being fined $5M for the harm he has done to the image of the NBA and the Indiana Pacers. The NBA has every right to protect it's image. The NBA image/brand is worth a lot of money, so the $5M Artest will lose sounds pretty small to me.

I agree with you that basketball games are safe places. They are very safe, but Detroit Pistons fans are disgraceful, embarassing morons.

I don't think the punishment fit the crime... The way I look at it is Ron Artest defending himself for 5 million dollars. That is, it cost him 5 million just because he got up from the scorers table to try to find the person who threw the cup at him. He didn't actually punch anyone until he got back down to court level. The court is the player's domain--once someone comes down their looking for a fight, they should expect one.

I could see myself taking your stance if I owned a team in the NBA as well. This obviously is not going to bother you because it takes away the best defender in the league. From a fan's standpoint, its horrible because it completely ruins a team that was once a championship contender.

For those of you who want to pull the whole "the punishment doesn't fit the crime" card, do you think getting your face punched in is a fitting punishment for throwing a plastic cup full of liquid at someone?

I don't know where some of you folks are from, but if you throw a something (for example, hmm let's say a beverage) at anyone it's to be expected that you will get your ass handed to you. I am also curious how this will affect the impending lockout for next season...

Ryan,

Have you ever been in a bar? Just curious.

And Artest didn't PUNCH the guy in the stands, he threw him down. He didn't "PUNCH the guy in the face" as you say for throwing the beer. He shoved him and sorta yanked him. He punched at people who came onto the court looking for a fist fight. Big difference.

"Are you seriously going to tell a 10 year old child that they can't watch their favorite team play because of the actions of someone who may not even be a Detroit fan? I'm pretty happy you have no say in this."

Nope, I'd tell that 10 year old they can watch it on TV because no one is allowed in the arena tonight, and they can go to the game 10 days from now, when the suspension is lifted.

It makes no difference if it's a Detroit fan (although, judging by the jerseys the principal fans involved were wearing, it's safe to say they were) or not. The point is to send a message. While I don't necessarily expect this to happen again, the NBA is sending no message to the fans whatsoever (at least thus far). They're saying, "the players can't come into the stands, but you go right on ahead doing whatever you want."

Make the Pistons play a game or two with no crowd. Put it on TV. Don't refund anyone's money. Make the whole world watch. Let Detroit be embarrassed over their pathetic actions. See if another city's fans ever pull the same stunt -- I doubt it.

If the NBA is so dead set on not being soft, it should not be soft towards the fans, either, as they have equal ownership in this event. And let's remember -- we're not talking about one or two idiots. We're talking about tens, probably hundreds of fans that were involved in one way or another, hundreds more who cheered it on, and hundreds more who did nothing to try to stop it. Nearly everyone in that arena was responsible in one way or another, and they should all pay.

I agree with most here. You throw stuff at the players and you deserve to have your face caved in. The penalties were way too excessive on the Pacers players. The Pacers season holders get penalized by having to watch an NBDL team for the rest of the season and the degenerate Pistons fans don't get penalized at all. Total BS.

6 games for Ben Wallace?! That's it?! You gotta be kidding me. That's the same penalty Rick Fox got for his fight with Doug Christie and Ben started a riot. Why didn't the refs throw those 2 out immediately?!

For those who think the NBA is rigged, this just confirms it. Stern is handing the Chip over to Shaq and Miami this year.

what about the "fans" out on the court taking punches at the players, or that crazy cop who took out a can of pepper spray? why aren't they fined. let's dock them pay as well, or make them reimburse the palace for the tickets. this whole thing is ridiculous. this is what we get for the over hyped, over commercialized league that david stern created. what about the days of class in the nba. bring back the knicks of '70's.

To those of you commenting that a fan throwing something on the court deserves what he gets - whether this is true or not, it's irrelevant because Artest attacked someone other than the guy that threw the cup at him. His "fine" will be more thant $5M once he settles the civil suit he has coming his way. Jackson should have been suspended for the whole season as well.

"you will be punished beyond anything that could be expected"

Uh, if the punishment isn't expected, then how can it be used as a deterence or even be remotely considered fair.

And if, as you claim, this ISN'T a trend, then why did stern feel the need to deter at all?

Artest's actions were bad, but they don't warrant the loss of 5 million. It was on the level of Vernon Maxwell's actions.

How can you say it wont happen again when it just happened? I hope it doesn't come to player and fan seperation where the players play the games behind cages and the fan has to look through the wires of the cage to see the game. How sad that would be. But, whatever makes the fans and players feel safer is what needs to be done.

The Pacer fight goes a lot deeper then the night in Detroit. Apparently now we are employing thugs in the NBA. I can’t wait till Ron Artest’s rap album comes out and we can see how gangsta he is. This is a player mentality problem it’s even a culture problem that I believe will only get worse. As the old saying goes you can take the kid out the ghetto, but you can’t take the ghetto out the kid. What’s the next thing to happen a player grabs his gun and shots a fan because he dissed him? Is it really impossible? Did you think something like what happened in Detroit would ever happen? I am sorry but as much as I love basketball that doesn’t change the fact we have nothing more then a bunch of gang-banging thugs in the NBA. This is not Michael Jordan’s NBA anymore. As far as the suspensions go I think it was far from fair. Every single player that threw a punch at a fan should have been sent home for the year. Just one guys opinion. Like it or hate it I own it!

The side show is that when I hear the NBA players coment: I get this feeling that they think that a good number of fans are crazy and a problem for them.
A bit like the Fans are the enemy for them.
.V

This is quite simple. An idiot fan screwed up. An idiot player screwed up. A few more idiot fans and players got involved. The minority, once again, leaves a stain on the majority. A few idiots in the media over analyze it. Mark runs the numbers in this post and in a few seconds disproves the buzz. The few idiots get punished and the majority moves on.

Mark,

I applaud you once again. I am a huge fan. To the point, I sense your recent comments praising the NBA is rapidly earning you significant respect around the league and amongst observers because you are proving beyond any shadow of a doubt that you are fully behind the league. I have always known this, but some critics I know have said you were anti-NBA establishment. That couldn't be further from the truth, obviously. You are a stand-up businessman. Great work.

Doug

For those of you who honestly think they will punish the fans you are crazy. Do you think the NBA is honestly going to give up a night's worth of revenue for an event like this? Do you think the NBA will let the defending national champions play on their home court in front of empty seats? The NBA is a business, I am not sure what one game brings in (ticket sales, concession sales, souvenirs, parking, etc.), but I am sure it is enough to say that "punishing the fans" would actually be punishing the NBA.

Another thing. The NBA has to love what happened on and off that court. To go along with Mark's “apologevent” entry, this does nothing, but draws ratings (which leads to advertising sales) and ticket sales. We have the games between the Pacers and Pistons for this year, not to mention next year when everybody is back in action (assuming the players and teams are the same, which I doubt). Not to compare these teams to a rivalry on the level of Red Sox and Yanks, but you have to figure that when A-Rod got a face full of glove it made more people love the Red Sox and that many more love the Yanks. And vice versa with the hate.

This sales tickets, causes news coverage, sales advertising. The NBA eats this stuff up. The punishment is necessary to build the suspense of what will happen next and to spark rhetorical comments such as this. Props to the NBA for allowing cancers and solid roll models like Artest to even make the league.

Having said all of this, props to Mark and his staff for building a solid team that the fans will never have to worry about something like this happening.

Here are my thoughts:

1) If someone is going to provoke someone by throwing something at them REGARDLESS of who they are, then they should certainly expect to get smacked.

2) Just because you paid your money to watch the game, doesn't give you the right to disrespect any of the players by throwing things or making rude comments. It's just a game, you're there to watch the competition.

3) Well, Artest wanted time off to promote his album, well he got it. I just hope that it is successful seeing that he's going to need to make the $5 million he won't be earning from the NBA. I never liked his attitude, so I'm not all that upset that he's not going to be seen playing.

4) Stern put his foot down to show other teams that we won't tolerate this sort of behavior anywhere. Like it's been said, this isn't a trend in the NBA, this is an isolated incident.

5) Maybe security needs to be stepped up a bit in arenas to ensure the safety of the fans that aren't directly involved. Granted this was at the end of the game, but can you imagine what it would have escalated to if this took place in the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd quarters?

I'm going to continue to watch the NBA and enjoy every minute of it. Artest should be happy, he's getting his media coverage to pimp his album, now that he has time on his hands.

GO MAVS!!!

:) CAT

A couple of comments.

1) The comment that NO fans in Detroit should be able to go to a game is ridiculous. Punish everyone for the actions of a few. That same logic would dictate that the entire Pacers and Detroit teams should no longer be able to compete.

2) The reason the fines are stiff (if you believe that to be true) is simple. Players are NOT ALLOWED to enter the stands. The reason that breaking that rule carries a stiff penalty is also simple. Because by going into the stands you run the risk of attacking the wrong people, of inciting a riot, of hurting innocent bystanders. The NBA, Ron Artest, and Stephen Jackson are LUCKY with the way that horrible scene played out. Nobody was seriously hurt. But clearly this is a good rule that should carry severe consequences if broken.

3)I get confused when people rationalize Artest and Jackson's actions with references to a bar. If I was in a bar and somebody threw a beer at me I would be very pissed off. And I would agree that that person would deserve to get beat down. However, I still have a decision to make. I can let it go. Or I wouldn't be able to respect myself otherwise, I could go after the guy that threw the beer. But if I choose the latter then I am responsible for what may or may not come from that decision. I would not be entitled to cause the guy serios physical harm. I certainly wouldn't be entitled to attack the wrong guy. And if a riot broke out, I would share a signicant amount of the responsibility in what happened. Trust me, people in bars or anywhere else that make bad decisions have to pay a price for them too.

4) To elaborate on the above, too many people are saying the same things that the ESPN crew was saying the night of the fight. They emphasized that any human being would react the same way as Artest, Jackson, and Oneal but ignored the fact that most of the Pacers didn't react that way. In fact they reacted much closer to the way you would hope a person would in that situation. Fred Jones was in the crowd trying to break things up and was actually getting jacked from behind by Ben Wallace's posse member and still had the sense not to go there with any of the fans. Another Pacer stepped in front of Stephen Jackson so that he'd stop pummeling one of the fans. There were a lot of players on both teams that should be pointed out and commended for the way they handled themselves in a ridiculously chaotic situation. There actions should be the model that we should look to and expect. Not those of Artest, Jackson, and ONeal.

"Thats all that can be said about the way Commissioner Stern handled the situation in Detroit. "

Yeah, he'd probably fine you again for commenting on it ;)

I agree, it's highly unlikely you'll get hit during a Mavs game, except if you're in the 8th row behind the basket and Shawn Bradley attempts a shot

There are way too many comments that "the fan deserved it" or that "Artest is defending himself" or "What do you expect Ron to do?" - these statements are absolutely ridicuolous. Artest definitely did not deserve the drink in his face, but surely, no one with even the slightest of civil knowledge can suggest or even imply that it was "OK" for Artest to go tackle the dude. Artest was not defending himself, I mean, what was he defending? Was his life or his physical being in some sort of emminent danger by having beer splashed on his face? No. Did Artest think that if he didn't stop the fan at that exact moment, the fan would take a gun out to shoot him or even worse drown him in beer? No. It is just plain simple that Artest was pissed and couldn't control his emotions when the fan evoked him. So enough of this "I understand" and BS like that...Artest is a arrogant wacko with the self control and IQ of a peanut. Plain and simple.
Was the fan wrong? Certainly, but let's forget the "he was just as bad" or the "he started it first" comments (which Artest actually gave in a TV interview - the nerve!). Throwing the beer is not the root cause of the event: it is always a probable situation that someday, somewhere someone is going to "throw" something at Artest in the hundreds of games that he plays - and the "flood-gate" will ultimately lie on Artest to not have things like this happen. Plain and simple, Artest is the one specifically at fault for the entire mess - and if principles stand he should get KICKED OUT OF THE LEAGUE - if I did something like that at work, I would be out of a job - fast. But alas, money speaks louder than principles in the NBA, so what Artest gets is a little slap on the wrist (yes, that's what it really is in perspective) so he can continue to earn the money for the Pacers and NBA from his blind fans. Whatever, Artest is probably thinking "I wanted some time off to do my music label anyway - and any publicity is a good publicity for myself/album - so its a double reward." What a looney...

"And Artest didn't PUNCH the guy in the stands, he threw him down. He didn't "PUNCH the guy in the face" as you say for throwing the beer. He shoved him and sorta yanked him. He punched at people who came onto the court looking for a fist fight. Big difference."

Uh, you can try to minimize what Artest did, say he didn't throw a punch, per se, but what he did basically started a riot...I also think that the other players wouldn't have gone up there if Artest doesn't lead the way...totally unacceptable, even for beer thrown...Arrest the fan(s) and hold them up to disdain - much better solution...of course if you've got a gangsta, rappa mindset you may not be thinking about those kinds of "solutions."

First, Ben Wallace did not start the riot. The riot started when Ron Artest went into the stands after the (wrong) fan! Second, the suspensions are entirely appropriate. Every professional athlete interviewed since the incident has been unequivocal on one point - you cannot, under any circumstances, go into the stands. Period. Thirdly, there is plenty of blame to go around starting with the fans, the (lack of) security, the fans, the other players who jumped into the stands, and last but not least, the fans. Seriously, throwing a CHAIR???? At no one in particular??? When you are in no danger whatsoever????

How does anyone blame Detroit's fans? The guy that threw the initial cup is an idiot and should be banned from NBA games, but it was no different than football fans throwing snowballs or baseball fans throwing batteries and cups onto the field. When the Yankee's fans showered trash onto the field in the playoffs, it wasn't even a story. The only difference was that the Red Sox players weren't lunatics like Artest and Jackson. What made the situation spin out of control was when those guys trampled anyone in their path on their way to beat up innocent guys who happened to be sitting near the jerk who threw the initial cup. Punishing or even blaming a significant portion of Detroit fans would be like blaming Croshere and Tinsley for the actions of Artest and Jackson.

There is no reason to say that either Pacers players or Detroit fans are thugs or jerks; save those labels for Artest, Jackson, the guy who threw the initial cup and the guy who threw the chair.

I wonder if that first guy that got hit is going to sue....

Everybody screwed up here and should, on some level, be punished and held accountable. The NBA should attempt to ban any fan caught on tape acting like an idiot. In addition, any fan who conducts criminal activity, such as inciting a riot, disorderly public conduct, etc, should be held accountable in the courts. Anybody who can't see that does not live in what should be an orderly and just society.

Interesting to see the Finley event last night. I tend to agree with the suspensions. Interesting also to see the fans barred from the stadium/arena. I bet that event is going to jack-up your insurance premiums! ;) I don't think the Mavericks should wait for Stern to make a move to protect both its players and fans. Make some noice by implementing your own changes, be an innovator in fan experience and consideration. Background checks on season ticket holders? Courtside fans? Behavioral contract? The NBA is the most interactive of all the sports. It needs to approach its fans in an innovative fashion with that fact in mind.

I'm new here and would just like to start off by saying Mark your my kind of guy. The kind that likes to walk on the wild side because he can so he does. The world needs more Mark Cubans. Back to basketball.

I most definitely would agree with you that things get blow out of portion by the media, and that the punishment will in all likelihood reduce the chances of this every happening again. The media tends to like to put things that will get the biggest reactions out there without regard for putting things into perspective as you have clearly exhibited here.

On a slightly different not I would like to see more changes in Basketball, I enjoy change so long as it is for the betterment of the game. There is one change I would like to see happen to the All-star Games. I would like to see owners such as yourself actually coaching one of the sides. I know as a kid I had aspirations to be professional player one day, the older I got the more evident it became that it would never happen. As time passed I start thinking of being a coach. Next, and this is for those of us who see ourselves making large sums of money, I started seeing myself as an owner. So if this hierarchal passion for sports holds true then I believe that many owners would love to actually coach, at least one game with all-star players. I know you would, wouldn't you? (Idea inspired by Mark Cuban)

The media tends to like to put things that will get the biggest reactions out there without regard for putting things into perspective.

There are ways in place to handle bad behavior and it doesn't involve jumping into a fight. It's called self control and maturity. Two things the players did not show that night. Yes, the fans are responsible as well, but they are not responsible for the reactions of the players.