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Pacers officials back banished players
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-11-23 09:05
Indiana Pacers officials backed their players as the National Basketball
Association rang with recriminations in the wake of a violent brawl between
Pacers players and fans in Detroit.
Indiana Pacers CEO
Donnie Walsh, left, answers a question while Pacers president Larry Bird
listens during a news conference in Indianapolis., Monday, Nov. 22, 2004.
Walsh called the brawl at the end of Friday's game a low point in
professional sports and apologized for the team.
[AP] |
On Sunday, NBA commissioner David Stern
meted out the longest suspension in league history - a total of 73 games - to
the Pacers' Ron Artest after he waded into the stands Friday in search of a fan
who threw a drink in his face.
Indiana's Stephen Jackson was suspended for 30 games and Jermaine O'Neal for
25 after both also threw punches at fans in the fracas.
Donnie Walsh, chief executive of Pacers Sports and Entertainment,
acknowledged at a press conference on Monday in Indianapolis that the incident
was a "low point in professional sports and a low point for our franchise.
"We apologize," he said.
But Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said he was dismayed by the "excessive
negative portrayal" of his players, which he said was not consistent with the
men he knows.
In all, nine players, five Pacers and four Pistons, were sanctioned in the
wake of the incident that started after a late-game foul on Detroit's Ben
Wallace by Artest.
Wallace shoved Artest, who walked away and then lay down on the scorers'
table. A fan threw a cup of liquid in his face, and Artest stormed into the
stands.
Indiana Pacers
forward Ron Artest is grabbed by fans after he went into the seats during
a a brawl with the Detroit Pistons with just 45.9 seconds left in the game
Friday, Nov. 19, 2004, in Auburn Hills, Mich. The game was called by the
officials. [AP] |
"Whatever doubt our players
may have about the unacceptability of breaching this boundary, they now know the
line is drawn and my guess is it won't happen again, certainly not by anyone who
wants to be associated with our league," Stern said Sunday in announcing the
penalties.
While the players' union was expected to challenge the severity of the
punishments and Pacers owner Herb Simon said Sunday he thought they were
excessive, Walsh said it wasn't yet clear what exactly the team could or would
do by way of appeal.
"We are looking at the options that would be available, but we have no clear
idea on what we are going to do," Walsh said.
"Commissioner Stern has wide power in this situation, an on the court
situation if that's what it's determined to be," Walsh said. "There are very
limited avenues of appeal that are available to a team or to the players'
association."
Larry Bird, the former NBA great who is now the Pacers president of
basketball operations, said only that he was counting on his players to pull
together, and that the team stood behind Artest, whose previous run-ins with
officialdom likely factored in his punishment.
"Right now, we're behind Ronnie 100 percent, and we will look at everything
we possibly can to get him back in uniform as quickly as possible," Bird said.
John Green of West
Bloomfield Township, Mich., shown on a framegrab from WDIV-TV in Detroit,
Nov. 22, 2004. County prosecutor David Gorcyca said that Green was the fan
who threw a cup that hit Indiana forward Ron Artest and started the brawl
at The Palace. The prosecutor himself identified Green, who he said was a
former next-door neighbor when both lived in the Detroit suburb of Royal
Oak, by repeatedly watching footage of the brawl. Green told reporters
that it may have looked like he threw the cup, but he didn't.
[AP] |
Carlisle noted that unlike Artest,
Jackson and O'Neal have no history of disciplinary problems, a factor he hoped
might count in their favor if a reduction in their bans is sought.
While the controversy raged on sports pages, television, talk radio and
internet sites as to what amount of blame should be apportioned to the players,
the security arrangements and the taunting fans, the consensus was that Stern
had no choice but to come down hard.
Nine spectators were hurt, and a police investigation could still result in
criminal charges.
"I knew that Mr. Stern was going to make it to where he was going to set a
precedent to where the next time something like that happens, nobody would ever
think about going into the stands again," Miami Heat superstar center Shaquille
O'Neal said.
Certainly the commissioner made no apology for his decision, saying the move
to ban Artest for the season was "unanimous ... 1-0".
"It was my decision, and I decided it," he said.
Artest himself offered an apologetic statement in the wake of his suspension.
"It really hurt me to see the children crying on TV, and I think about how it
could have been my own kids," he said. "I also regret and apologize to fans who
were upset by what happened."
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