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Artest made contact with Harden, and then swung his elbow in a controlled motion. That's really all there is to this story, so all the things I'm hearing about this being an accident, or Harden deserving it because he bumped into Artest, is insane.
To me it looked like Harden was walking to the inbounder to put himself in position to get the ball. Artest immediately after the dunk, goes into a chest bump and skip routine. In the process, Artest bumps into him( or Harden bumps into Artest, I guess how one sees it depends on which team they're rooting for), right after the point of contact Artest immediately ***** his elbow across his chest and lets out a full swing towards Harden, catching him on the side of his head:
You can't tell me that:
1) Artest didn't feel the initial bump prior to the elbow.
2) Artest didn't feel his elbow making contact with someone.
After knocking down a guy and you have this look? Not good and that is one dude you don't want to mess with. Also, we are now understanding the awareness of what concussions can do to the brain especially with the NHL and NFL getting more involved. This will be a serious factor to consider. Trauma to the head is no joke. You also have to look at the way Stern sees it. This was a nationally televised game for the world to see. The last thing you want is for your business to project a violent image. Stern has to protect the integrity of his business. Can you imagine non NBA fans or just casual viewers seeing this? They're gonna say that the NBA has a bunch of thugs just from this one incident. Perception and stereotyping means alot especially from Stern's point of view.
I believe the rest of this season which could mean the end of his career. Not sure how many years he has left in his contract, but the NBA could do a special case for the Lakers to buy him out at minimum $ or something. Here is why i think they might suspend him indefinitely.
1). Previous reputation--remember last year the hit/swat against Barea in the face as the most recent one...keep in mind all his career suspensions were due to violence and not like he received his 16th technical and gets a game suspension like Howard has been in several times. 2). Saying it was an accident when it was clearly intentional, thus in denial and outright lying. Had he admitted that he was clearly wrong on this, he might have gotten only a few games or at least lighter sentence. 3). Did you see the part when the Thunder players especially Ibaka were saying something to him and he backed away saying if i can read lips correctly..."you want some of this" with his fighting stance and fist clamp ready to throw some blows...this clearly shows aggression and not a man of 'peace' ...what he should've done was raise his arms and said it was an accident eventhough we clearly know it wasn't, but at least Stern could see that he felt some remorse during that part.
I could be wrong since Stern is unpredictable, but any punishment less than the 1st round of the playoffs would be too lenient. As far the incident itself, just look at how Artest knew someone was next to him by Harden's contact with the body. He knew someone was there and still swung his elbows high above the shoulder. The only time an NBA player swings an elbow this high above the shoulders in this particular manner is after getting a rebound to prevent others from swatting away after a player gets the rebound. Bottom line is that he knew someone was standing right next to him, but threw the elbow anyway with a full cocked wind up blow.
Great point and I think the fact that this hurt a player who is not only missing time, but also is a key contributor to a team fighting for a top seed should have merit too. To me, he's getting at least 15 games. At least with the 10 game suspensions based on fights, those were provoked, this wasn't even provoked.
There isn't any other way to describe Artest's actions yesterday other than cold-blooded and ruthless. Suspension for the rest of the season plus the playoffs is the only punishment that could equate to the purposeful viciousness he unleashed on Harden. He's a thug and and a hoodlum and doesn't belong in any sports league. And of course he should drop that absurd MWP moniker he gave himself. What an insult to those who truly seek world peace. He should rename himself Metta World Destruction.
There isn't any other way to describe Artest's actions yesterday other than cold-blooded and ruthless. Suspension for the rest of the season plus the playoffs is the only punishment that could equate to the purposeful viciousness he unleashed on Harden. He's a thug and and a hoodlum and doesn't belong in any sports league. And of course he should drop that absurd MWP moniker he gave himself. What an insult to those who truly seek world peace. He should rename himself Metta World Destruction.
I really hate when people uses these words. He isn't a thug, he's a man that has serious mental issues. If you have ever been around someone that is mentally ill, you would understand that his actions aren't necessarily indicative of someone that is a 'thug' or a 'hoodlum'.
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...what he should've done was raise his arms and said it was an accident eventhough we clearly know it wasn't, but at least Stern could see that he felt some remorse during that part.
