NBA players get off with little punishment
Julie Grosshans A lot of people react violently in the heat of the moment. National Basketball Association stars are no exception. Are they above the law, though? Do their punishments fit their crimes?
Latrell Sprewell, formerly of the Golden State Warriors, had his contract terminated by the Warriors and was suspended by the NBA for one year following an attack on coach P.J. Carlesimo on Dec. 1, 1997.
This may sound suitable for some, but what followed next in the ordeal was outrageous.
Arbitrator John Feerick decided to reinstate Sprewell’s contract with the Warriors and reduced his suspension by five months.
“You cannot strike your boss and still hold your job – unless you play in the NBA and are subject to arbitrator Feerick’s decision,” said NBA commissioner David Stern following the incident.
The Warriors as a team were shocked by the decision.
“I thought our organization made a statement of what they think is acceptable behavior, and the league supported that,” Carlesimo said. “To have that set aside is disappointing.”
On the other hand, though, Feerick felt that the penalty of missing 68 games suited the severity of the misconduct.
“It addresses the wrong done to the head coach and conveys a message that violence in the NBA will be dealt with severely, but always with due regard to principles of fairness,” Feerick said.
Stern said that he felt that Feerick “missed the opportunity to send a message of what sports leagues stand for. On that basis, we’re a little disappointed.”
Studying journalism, I’ve learned word choice is very important. Why was Stern just a little disappointed in the missed opportunity?
That was more than three years ago. Has the NBA made it a point yet to show what they stand for or are we still stuck in the same rut of one or two-game suspensions? And what are individual teams and outside organizations doing about misbehavior in professional basketball?
In a recent game, Marcus Camby of the New York Knicks, who had been poked in the eye by Danny Ferry of the San Antonia Spurs, was ejected from the game for throwing a punch at Ferry. Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy got the worst of it, though, as he got in the way of the scrabble and ended up needing 12-15 stitches above his left eye.
After all of that, Camby was suspended five games without pay and fined $25,000 for throwing the punch at Ferry. Ferry was suspended one game without pay and fined $7,500 for his actions leading up to the fight.
In November 2000, the Jazz’s Karl Malone was suspended one game without pay for backhanding Christian Laettner of the Dallas Mavericks in the face.
The following month, the Jazz were again faced with losing a team member due to suspension, but this time not for a fight.
John Starks was missing in action facing a suspension dealing with violating team rules. It was never specifically stated what Starks violated, but he was reportedly having a difficult time getting to practice and team meetings since his arrival in Utah.
Despite acknowledging that he had things to work on, Starks faced another suspension in early January for the same reason.
During a recent nine-game span, Starks served his suspensions, Greg Ostertag sat on the bench for one game following a dispute with coach Jerry Sloan and Olden Polynice didn’t play one game following a league suspension after pleading guilty to two misdemeanor counts of impersonating a police officer and one charge of disorderly conduct. To cap it all off, Bryon Russell sat on the bench fighting an ankle injury.
Following his offenses, Polynice was ordered to pay $1,000 in fines, perform 130 hours of community service, take anger management counseling, issue a general public apology and write letters of apology to each victim. In West Valley, Judge Walter Ellett sentenced Polynice to spend 25 hours with the Murray/Midvale Boys and Girls Club and 75 hours with the Salt Lake Boys and Girls Club. He is allowed to cut his community service hours down by bringing other Jazz players along with him.
That will teach him real well. Let others help him work off his punishment.
Polynice said he wants to be a positive role model in the community, though.
“You’ve got to stand up and be a man and take responsibility for your actions,” Polynice said.
I’ll believe it when I see it.
So how does all of this affect the team overall?
“This has been a pretty quiet team for 10 or 12 years. We haven’t had much going on. Regardless of what they are, any time you have distractions, it takes away from your ability to play basketball,” said Jazz coach Jerry Sloan following the recent loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, including 25 turnovers.
The thoughts throughout the team on whether the off-court distractions carried over onto the court were varied.
“I didn’t feel distracted, but who know what happens on an individual basis?” John Stockton said.
“Anywhere on the floor tonight, it was a lack of concentration,” Russell said.
“You definitely have to be into it. It’s obvious our concentration wasn’t there and we weren’t as focused as we had been,” Starks said.
“There’s always bumps in the road,” Stockton said. “It’s how you handle the bumps. If you can get back up the next day and go to work you’re fine and that’s our goal.”
It seems that that is not only the goal for the Jazz, but for the entire NBA.
In the NBA you can get away with pretty much everything – head butting your coach, not showing up to practices, fighting with other players and even impersonating a police officer. You just have to move on.
Julie Ann Grosshans is a staff writer for the Statesman and can be reached at purplefootprints@hotmail.com