Another NBA player goes into the stands
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=260118004
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CHICAGO (AP) -- Knicks forward Antonio Davis climbed into the stands out of concern for his wife and was ejected without further trouble Wednesday night during the Chicago Bulls' 106-104 overtime victory against New York.
Ben Gordon hit a game-winning jumper at the buzzer and scored 32 points for the Bulls, but Davis' dash over the scorer's table and into the stands during a timeout in overtime -- evoking memories of last season's brawl in Detroit -- became the flash point of an already wild game.
"I witnessed my wife being threatened by a man that I learned later to be intoxicated," Davis said in a statement issued after the game. "I saw him touch her, and I know I should not have acted the way I did, but I would have felt terrible if I didn't react. There was no time to call security. It happened too quickly."
Davis ascended about 10 rows of seats to reach his wife in the stands. There was no physical confrontation after he got there, but several people were pointing and shouting for a few moments before security arrived
Davis, president of the NBA players' association, appeared calm throughout and walked away willingly as soon as security arrived. He returned to the bench and took his seat before being ejected. The game resumed after about a five-minute delay.
United Center security remained in the stands for a few minutes more, where other fans appeared to be explaining what they had seen. Guards in suits and yellow jackets then escorted a group of people from the area.
Knicks coach Larry Brown said Davis went into the stands because he saw his wife "falling back."
Brown was coaching the Pistons in November 2004 when an ugly fight broke out in the stands between fans and Indiana Pacers players during a Detroit home game. A black eye for the NBA, the brawl led to criminal charges and lengthy suspensions for Ron Artest, Jermaine O'Neal and Stephen Jackson.
But Brown was adamant that this situation should be viewed differently.
"Come on, that's his wife," Brown said. "That's entirely different. I was worried about Kendra. That's why he went in the stands, he saw her falling back.
"That thing that happened in the stands had nothing to do with the two teams. That's a man concerned about his family."
No arrests had been made as of late Wednesday night, police said.
Gordon hit his winning shot after New York's Jamal Crawford tied it at 104 with a 3-pointer with 4.6 seconds left. After a timeout, Gordon caught the inbounds pass near the top of the key and hit a jumper over Trevor Ariza, bringing a wild game to an end.
New York's Maurice Taylor and Chicago's Chris Duhon also were ejected after a scuffle in overtime, a few minutes before Davis went into the stands.
"He took care of family first," Taylor said. "He's got his wife and young kids up there."
Asked about Davis' demeanor in the locker room after the game, Taylor said: "He was upset, but he was clear headed. Everyone watches where their family is."
Taylor said Davis told him it looked as if his wife was involved in some kind of altercation in the stands, but wasn't sure what it was about.
"He didn't know what was going on, he just knew something was going on," Taylor said.
Gordon hit 14 of 28 shots, none bigger than the last one. He missed a shot at the end of regulation, but converted in overtime after taking the inbounds pass from Kirk Hinrich.
Gordon, who grew up just north of New York City in Mount Vernon, also beat the Knicks with a buzzer-beater at Madison Square Garden last season on Martin Luther King Day.
Hinrich finished with 18 points, eight assists, eight rebounds and three steals, while Andres Nocioni and Darius Songaila scored 14 apiece.
Crawford led the Knicks with 19 points, while Quentin Richardson added 17. Stephon Marbury sat out with a sprained left shoulder, ending a streak of 280 consecutive games played.
Davis, who used to play for the Bulls, had 16 points and nine rebounds, but Eddy Curry struggled in his homecoming. He finished with 11 points and four rebounds in his first game against Chicago and missed the final seven-plus minutes of regulation after colliding with Gordon.
Curry's return was overshadowed by what happened in overtime.
First, Taylor ran across the lane and knocked down Duhon, who got up and shoved Taylor, resulting in a double technical. Davis was ejected with 1:04 left.
The Bulls were ahead 102-99 after Songaila hit two free throws with 51.1 seconds left in overtime. Crawford went 2-of-3 from the line after being fouled by Andres Nocioni to make it a one-point game. After Nocioni converted two foul shots with 8.3 seconds left, Crawford's 3 tied it at 104.
Re: Another NBA player goes into the stands
I think his reason checks out and is very warranted. But regardless of the situation, you hate to see this happen. The NBA needs to figure something out to protect players, thier families, and the fans without it becoming a military full of security.
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If his reasons are legit, and I have no reason to believe differently, I actually applaud the man.
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He should not be suspended for protecting his family, but rules are rules and he will probably be fined. And I'll bet you he'll pay that fine gladly knowing that his wife is fine.
I would like to see family/friends of the athletes sit in one specific section that can be monitored by security. You're bound to have problems when you have family members spread out all over the arena/stadium. There is no possible way that security can protect all family members when they're spread out like that.
Of course it's unfortunate that we actually have to protect athlete's family members. But that's the society we live in today.
Re: Another NBA player goes into the stands
<devil's advocate>
Suppose I am at work. My wife is going to pick me up at work for lunch. She does not work at my place of employment. At the same time she is picking me up for lunch, a customer of ours is pulling into the parking lot to visit my company. For whatever reason my wife and my company's customer are involved in a dispute in the parking lot when I walk out (a driving incident, argument over a parking spot, whatever...). I walk into this confrontation. I am not sure of what happened or started it b/c I was doing my job when it started. Perhaps it is the customer's fault or perhaps it is my wife's fault. However, I step in and shove our customer. I call him some choice names. Other employees and our security step in and break it up. My customer proceeds to tell higher-ups in my company how he was treated by an employee of this company. Guess what probably happens to me? I probably get axed. Are NBA players any different? I think not.
Do you wonder if the Knicks 13-23 record is partly to blame on the lack of attention on the court and to the game by their own players? Seems as though Davis was not giving the game his 100% attention. Could Davis have had security handle the situation and avoided going into the stands? You better bet your life. That would have something to do with "cooler heads prevail".
Is going into the crowd ever justified? NO. I'd feel like a won the Lotto if an NBA player ever laid a hand on me. Unless I was obviously a threat to cause bodily harm to him, there is never a good enough excuse to lay a hand on me. Esp. when the person being touched is a fan in the stands.
Re: Another NBA player goes into the stands
given what Davis said, he handled it a lot better than i would have. i can almost guarentee i'd have ended up with assault charges.
Re: Another NBA player goes into the stands
Quote:
Originally Posted by RedFanAlways1966
<devil's advocate>
Suppose I am at work. My wife is going to pick me up at work for lunch. She does not work at my place of employment. At the same time she is picking me up for lunch, a customer of ours is pulling into the parking lot to visit my company. For whatever reason my wife and my company's customer are involved in a dispute in the parking lot when I walk out (a driving incident, argument over a parking spot, whatever...). I walk into this confrontation. I am not sure of what happened or started it b/c I was doing my job when it started. Perhaps it is the customer's fault or perhaps it is my wife's fault. However, I step in and shove our customer. I call him some choice names. Other employees and our security step in and break it up. My customer proceeds to tell higher-ups in my company how he was treated by an employee of this company. Guess what probably happens to me? I probably get axed. Are NBA players any different? I think not.
Do you wonder if the Knicks 13-23 record is partly to blame on the lack of attention on the court and to the game by their own players? Seems as though Davis was not giving the game his 100% attention. Could Davis have had security handle the situation and avoided going into the stands? You better bet your life. That would have something to do with "cooler heads prevail".
Is going into the crowd ever justified? NO. I'd feel like a won the Lotto if an NBA player ever laid a hand on me. Unless I was obviously a threat to cause bodily harm to him, there is never a good enough excuse to lay a hand on me. Esp. when the person being touched is a fan in the stands.
No physical confrontation. No shoving. No punches. He saw his wife being hassled. He went to her. Are those priorities so bad? Would you just sit there and watch for security? It said his kids were there. You would let them see that without standing up to it? Sounds like his priorities are pretty good.
But rules are rules.
Re: Another NBA player goes into the stands
Quote:
My customer proceeds to tell higher-ups in my company how he was treated by an employee of this company. Guess what probably happens to me? I probably get axed. Are NBA players any different? I think not.
People pay millions of dollars a year to watch NBA players do their jobs. I'm sure you're good at your job, but I doubt anyone pays money to watch you do it.
That doesn't give them license to attack people, but it does mean that their employers are going to give them more leeway than you or I would get from our employers.
Re: Another NBA player goes into the stands
Quote:
Originally Posted by RedFanAlways1966
<devil's advocate>
My customer proceeds to tell higher-ups in my company how he was treated by an employee of this company. Guess what probably happens to me? I probably get axed. Are NBA players any different? I think not.
Yes, they are, and it should be obvious as to why. Money.
They generate Millions in revenue and are extremely difficult to find replacements for. That is just not the case for the average Joe.
The ratio of customer revenue/replacing employee is the driving factor here.
If the ratio is $100/$60,000 salary ... they probably apologize to the customer profusley and hide you for a bit.
If the ratio is more like $2.5M/$60,000 ... get your resume together, you're fired.
Now, if the ratio is $100/$50M over 5 years ... they escort the customer out of the building and tell him never to come back.
GL
edit: I didn't notice the <devil's advocate>, good conversation starter.
I pull out the same line of reasoning when anybody asks why is so-and-so "worth" $20M. I say if they can generate me $21M of profit, then they are "worth" every penny.
Re: Another NBA player goes into the stands
If somebody is messing with my family, I'm not going to wait around to see what happens.
If that breaks the rules, tough. Fine me any way you choose.
Re: Another NBA player goes into the stands
The Chicago Bulls organization should be fined for not having adequate security. If AD's family was being hassled, Security should've been on the scene well before AD had to take action.
Re: Another NBA player goes into the stands
When things like this happen, the organization should be suspended from selling beer for a certain amount of games. 99% of these incidents don't happen without alcohol. If the arena/stadium can't provide adequate security, don't let them sell beer until they can get their act together.
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Bottom line is AD went into the stands and he should get atleast a 10 game suspension regardless of the reasons for going into the stand. But that won't happen because David Stern is an idiot and a terrible comissioner. Ever since the whole crazy thing in Detroit (which I am not comparing to this at all) Stern's suspensions of the Pacer players have been ridiculous. A few examples 1) Ron Artest 73 games--way too excessive 2)A seperate incident where Stephen Jackson was supsended a game for not leaving the court in a timely manner and verbally abusing an official. Well Lawrence Frank the coach for the Nets did the exact same thing but was only fined. Doesn't make much since except for the fact that Stern is an idiot and is out to get certain players and teams in the league.
Re: Another NBA player goes into the stands
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If that breaks the rules, tough. Fine me any way you choose.
http://tmex.spun.com/amgcover/dvd/fu...01319oiwxr.jpg
Re: Another NBA player goes into the stands
unfortunately, Davis will probably be fined. even more unfortunate is i think it almost has to be done, right or wrong.
however, i do believe he was right in doing this. i mean...it IS the guy's wife.
the fan, meanwhile, should be invited to never attend another NBA game for the rest of his drunken and miserable life.
that, or forced to attend only games with David Putty and his fellow "face-painters".