December 18, 2007
THE NBA's brand of jus tice continues to bewilder and disfigure.
The Suns' chances of beating the Spurs in the playoffs were vastly diminished last May when commissioner David Stern followed the letter of league law and suspended Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw for Game 5 in Phoenix for taking one or two harmless steps onto the court after Robert Horry flagrantly hip-checked scurrying Steve Nash into the scorer's table.
Meanwhile, the NBA only saw fit to suspend elbow-wielding Kenyon Martin one lousy game as a result of fracturing the left eye socket of Hornets' forward Melvin Ely, who may be forced to miss the next two months.
How reasonable is that?
It's a near replay of the Danny Fortson-Zarko Cabarkapa 2003-04 disaster, one of many, many examples throughout the years. The Suns' on-the-run rookie was upended in mid-flight, on approach to the rim, by the vacant lot of a thug. Bad enough the 6-11 Serbian broke his wrist, but he never again showed the promise, confidence or aggressiveness he did before being submarined and is no longer in the league after an uninspiring 1½ seasons at Golden State.
What makes Martin's mugging a bit less loathsome than Fortson's dirty deed is that it was delivered instantaneously, whereas Danny Pigtails had time to measure his victim for a cast, if not a casket. Martin says it was an accident and quickly apologized. Ely accepted his apology and branded it an accident as well.
Oh, really? At the same time, "There's no such thing as an errant elbow (or an wayward hip check, for that matter)," Pat Riley once accentuated. I often use that quote because it couldn't be nearer to the truth.
Anyone who ever seriously played the game and had someone repeatedly come over his back underneath the boards, or habitually climbed backs, will vouch for that. Many of us have the shattered front teeth, smashed noses and/or bloody elbows as proof.
On the playground and at the "Y" these "accidents" are settled and policed in house. Vigilantism is the last form of justice Stern wants. This is why he should've fixed this farce long ago; though now is as good a time as any to start dispensing common sense vs. disproportionate sentences to sustained injuries.
Perpetrators need to be placed in suspended contamination until damaged players are 100 percent physically ready to play.
