i think the nba did the right thing here, although i am not sure for oneal.
as for jackson, he got everything he deserved. he didnt go in there trying to protect a teammate, he went in there swinging. fred jones and a couple of other pacers went into the crowd and were trying to pull artest out, and they did not get suspended because it was clear that their intent was to protect a teammate. jackson just went in and started throwing punches left and right, and he should have been suspended for the amount of time that he did.
what the fans did was reprehensible, and that was the instigation for the whole incident. however, if artest doesnt go into the stands, everything gets worked out by the police. the fans who threw beer get arrested and their tickets revoked, and the riot doesnt ensue. the problem was that when artest went into the stands, he was practicing vigilante justice, and the whole situation got completely out of control. the security force couldnt handle that type of incident on that scale. the fact that artest went after thw rong guy just shows why players shouldnt try to take matters into their own hands.
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11-22-04, 12:34 PM
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