Well put.... and I don't even dislike SA. I just hate the blind eye the NBA has to what is going on. Suns got screwed.
Not only that, but Stern is a hypocrit! He was defending his decision to suspend Stoudemire for "leaving the bench" by saying the suspension is strictly "black and white"--and that even though he never got into an altercation because he was held back by his teammates/coaches, he still left the bench. Stern said this rule was NOT open to an opinion as to whether Stoudamire got "too far off the bench" and that if a player leaves--no matter how far off the bench he is--that he will be suspended. ....ugh....well, Tim Duncan DID THE SAME THING ON THE OTHER BENCH!!!!! And when asked about that, Stern went off (sounding VERY arrogant and assanine) and said, "it's a case-by-case basis"....Ugh....Ya JERK! You JUST said it was a clear-cut rule!!! Personally, I lost a LOT of interest in the NBA once they started expanding teams like colleges expand stadiums. Now, IMO, there are too many teams with too few superstars. In the '80's, even the average fan could name 3-4 starters from just about every team--and to win an NBA title, you had to do it with at least 3-4 All-Star caliber players (Bird, McHale, Parrish in Boston....Magic, Kareem, Worthy in LA....Jordan, Pippen, Paxon in Chicago....Isaiah, Dumars, Rodman in Detroit....). Hell! Now, you're LUCKY if you can have more than 1 super star on your team, let alone name 3-4 players on each team that, during any given season, could have serious impact during a season.
THe NBA basically just said: You can take a role player on your roster, give a cheep shot to your opponent, and we'll suspend any teammate that comes to their fallen teammate's aide. :dis:
I'm not a pro basketball fan but San Antonio got the best out of a cheap shot. I watched the fourth quarter of the Suns loss in Phoenix when Stoudamire was suspended. They lose by 3 points with many an offensive dry spell that could have been remedied with their full roster. The commish has got to judge with reason and not with the "black and white" of the rule.:dis:
