RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Sports and Wrestling NBA: Game called in Detroit after ugly brawl

Quote:

---

PenWing said:
Artest's father was just on AM 1270. He talked about his son, and how he is a good person in his private life, and kids love him, etc.

---

That's all nice and good. Let's go to the videotape....

Quote:

---

ESPN.com news services

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Investigators interviewed nine people injured in the brawl at the end of the Pistons-Pacers game, but no charges were imminent in the case, the county prosecutor said Monday.

Police were also reviewing videotapes and interviewing witnesses from Friday night's melee, when Indiana forward Ron Artest charged into the stands after a fan threw a cup at him.

John Green of West Bloomfield Township was identified as the fan who threw the cup at Artest, said David Gorcyca, the Oakland County prosecutor. The Detroit Free Press reported late Monday that Green has several criminal convictions, including felony assault with intent to do great bodily harm. Green has three drunken-driving convictions, and Gorcyca said a condition of Green's probation was that he not drink alcohol.

Auburn Hills police told the Free Press that they are also asking the public to help identify a man who was caught on tape throwing a chair. Police say the chair hit several people, including a police officer. Authorities plan to release a picture on Tuesday of the man taken from video of the melee.

Gorcyca told the Free Press that charges will not be filed this week but are likely. If charges are filed, they would probably be for assault and battery, a misdemeanor that could bring a three-month jail sentence, said Gorcyca. The only possible felony charge could be against the person who threw the chair.

Police chief Doreen Olko said none of the people involved was seriously injured.

Asked if Artest could claim self-defense, Gorcyca said: "Even if someone did throw water, you don't have a license or a green light to punch them."

The prosecutor identified Green -- a former next-door neighbor -- by repeatedly watching footage of the brawl. He said footage showed that once Artest was in the stands, Green grabbed him from behind and sucker-punched him.

Green, however, told reporters he didn't throw the cup.

"I wish the whole thing didn't happen," he said. "I'm sure the NBA players that got involved in it wish it never happened, the fans never wished that it had happened. I know I don't. It was awful, it was ugly."

Speaking to reporters with his attorney present Monday, Green neither confirmed nor denied he threw the cup. Green said he doesn't remember what happened during the brawl because it all happened so fast. He added that whatever is on the video in the authorities' possession is what happened. There is video showing him throwing the cup.

Pistons chief executive Tom Wilson said Green is a season ticket-holder and will be banned from The Palace.

---

INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana Pacers forward Ron Artest said Tuesday he wishes he hadn't gotten into a fight with fans but feels his season-ending suspension was too harsh.

"I don't think it was fair — that many games," Artest said in an interview with NBC's "Today" show. "I respect (NBA Commissioner) David Stern's decisions, but I don't think I should have been out for the whole season."

It was Artest's first national interview since he was suspended for charging into the stands and fighting with fans late in Friday night's game against the Detroit Pistons in Auburn Hills, a Detroit suburb. The suspension amounts to 72 games in an 82-game season, and means he will lose about $5 million.

Four other Pacers players were suspended for shorter periods, including Stephen Jackson (30 games) and Jermaine O'Neal (25 games).

Artest bolted into the stands after being hit by a cup thrown by a spectator, touching off a brawl in which players exchanged punches with fans, who also doused the Pacers with drinks, popcorn, a chair and other debris.

"I wish that situation never happened," Artest said. "It wasn't good at all, for anybody."

"This is the third time that I've been hit with something out of the crowd," said Artest, who claimed he had been struck previously in Detroit and in Cleveland.

No charges had been filed in the brawl, but if any are they most likely would be misdemeanor assault and battery, Oakland County, Mich., prosecutor David Gorcyca said Monday.

The only possible felony charge under consideration would be against the unidentified person who hurled a chair into the crowd, Gorcyca said. Authorities asked the public to help identify that person.

After repeatedly watching footage of the brawl, the prosecutor personally identified John Green — a former neighbor of Gorcyca — as the fan who threw a cup that hit Artest.

Once Artest was in the stands, Green grabbed him from behind and sucker-punched him, the prosecutor said.

Green, 39, a contractor, told reporters Monday that it may have looked like he threw the cup, but he didn't.

"I wish the whole thing didn't happen," he said. "It was awful, it was ugly."

Green's attorney, Shawn Smith, said his client became involved in the brawl only when he saw Artest hitting a smaller man.

"We have no comment on who threw the cup, it's irrelevant," Smith said. He said fans shouldn't throw things, "but is it a criminal offense? I don't think so."

During an appearance Tuesday on ABC's "Good Morning America," Green described himself as a respected businessman with a wife and two children. He said he was not drinking Friday night.

"I don't go around breaking the law," he said. "If they have found that I broke the law, I'll pay the price."

But Gorcyca said Green was on probation for his third offense of driving under the influence. Green's record also includes convictions for carrying a concealed weapon and check fraud, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections' database.

Pistons chief executive Tom Wilson said Green is a season-ticket holder and will be banned from The Palace.

Auburn Hills Police Chief Doreen Olko said her office had spoken to nine people who said they were injured in the fight, but that the injuries were relatively minor.

Artest had not yet been interviewed by Michigan authorities, the chief said.

During the "Today" interview, simulcast with Indianapolis radio station WNOU, Artest plugged his new CD and wore a T-shirt and hat emblazoned with the logo of his record label — TruWarier Records.

Later, Artest began a promotional tour to plug the CD he produced for an R&B group. Dozens of fans, many carrying signs, were there to show support.

"What would you do? You've got fans acting crazy, throwing stuff at you. You can only take so much. I understand he's a public figure and all, but the whole season, that's extreme," said James Grable.

Artest said he had no ill will toward Detroit's Ben Wallace, who got things started when he shoved Artest after a foul late in the game.

"Wallace just had a death in the family, so I'm understanding," he said Monday night on WHHH radio in Indianapolis.

Quote:

---

MisterJLA said:
Now Artest has plenty of time to work on that rap album that he wanted time off to produce.

---

Two men were banned from events at The Palace for what the Detroit Pistons say is their involvement in last month's NBA brawl.

John Green and Charlie Haddad were sent letters informing them of the ban, which also includes events at DTE Energy Music Theatre in Clarkston, Pistons spokesman Matt Dobek said Wednesday. The Clarkston site is another holding of the Palace Sports and Entertainment organization.

Apart from Pistons games, the Palace hosts figure skating competitions and concerts. The DTE Energy Music Theatre holds concerts.

Green, of Oakland County's West Bloomfield Township, is accused of lobbing a cup at Indiana Pacers forward Ron Artest on Nov. 19, sparking the brawl. Haddad, of Burt, ran onto the court that night, Dobek said.

``They're completely picking on the little guy,'' Shawn Smith, Green's lawyer, said Wednesday.

The brawl spilled into the stands and led to three Indiana players being suspended for 25 or more games, including a season-long ban for Artest.

There is no telephone listing for Haddadd.

No criminal charges have been filed in the brawl. Oakland County prosecutor David Gorcyca said Tuesday police must finish their investigation first.

``It is obvious from the multitude of videotapes that numerous Pacer players and fans are implicated in criminal wrongdoing,'' Gorcyca said in a statement. ``To issue charges in haste and before a thorough investigation is completed would be irresponsible and a dereliction of our duties.''

Gorcyca had told The Detroit News that Pacers players will be charged, but declined to specify the players or charges.

Quote:

---

By CHRIS SHERIDAN, AP Basketball Writer

NEW YORK (AP) -- Employing an unexpected strategy in an effort to fight the suspensions leveled by commissioner David Stern, the NBA players' union is seeking to have the case heard by an arbitrator.

The union filed an appeal Tuesday on behalf of Indiana Pacers players Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson and Jermaine O'Neal, who were suspended for their roles in a brawl with Detroit Pistons fans last week.

Artest was banned for the season, Jackson for 30 games and O'Neal for 25. Union director Billy Hunter has called the penalties excessive, saying a suspension of about 35 games would have been more appropriate for Artest.

Now, Hunter appears to be attempting an end-around to avoid the rule stating the commissioner has sole authority -- and is the final avenue of appeal -- over matters of discipline involving on-court behavior.

``The players association's efforts to bring this matter before an arbitrator ignores the plain language of the collective bargaining agreement and the consistent past practice of the parties and will ultimately fail,'' NBA spokesman Brian McIntyre said.

Stern would normally have 20 days to rule on an appeal of an on-court discipline matter, and it was unclear whether the union's appeal strategy would put this case under that timetable.

``The action taken by the commissioner sets a new high-water mark in terms of the kind of discipline he feels he can impose,'' Hunter said. ``I think he has exceeded his authority and should be subject to review and challenge.''

In other developments:

-- Two fans sued the Pacers and Artest, Jackson and O'Neal, contending they were injured in the fracas at the end of Friday night's game at Detroit. John Ackerman, 67, says he was hit by O'Neal and then knocked unconscious by a thrown chair. William Paulson, 26, says Artest and Jackson assaulted him.

-- Police released a videotape and asked the public's help in identifying a man who investigators believe hurled the chair into the crowd during the brawl. Oakland County prosecutor David Gorcyca has said the only possible felony charge in the brawl could be against the chair-thrower. He said other charges most likely would be for misdemeanor assault and battery.

-- Artest appeared on NBC's ``Today,'' saying he respected Stern but thought his punishment was unduly harsh. He used the opportunity to plug a CD he produced for an R&B group and wore a T-shirt and hat emblazoned with the logo of his record label.

The players' union was contemplating taking its case to federal court. A similar strategy failed in 1997 when the union contested the suspensions handed out to four members of the New York Knicks for leaving the bench during a fight in a playoff game against the Miami Heat.

In that case, U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff cited article XXXI, section 8 of the league's collective bargaining agreement establishing the commissioner as the complete and final authority on discipline for what happens on the court.

The language, the judge said, is ``so plain, so clear, so unequivocal, so on-point to the dispute that underlies this controversy.''

``In that case we were seeking an injunction. We may not pursue an injunction if we pursue this in federal court,'' Hunter said, adding the union will argue that since some of the punishable behavior happened in the stands, it should not fall under the definition of ``on-court behavior.''

``We think the court is limited to the court itself, the 90-by-50 piece of hardwood, and the benches,'' Hunter said.

In 1998, the union successfully appealed the one-year suspension Stern gave to Latrell Sprewell, then with the Golden State Warriors, for attacking coach P.J. Carlesimo at practice. It was reduced by an arbitrator to 68 games.

The difference between Sprewell's case and the current one is that Sprewell's attack on Carlesimo happened at practice, so it was not considered on-court behavior and was subject to the arbitration provisions of the collective bargaining agreement.

The suspensions also could be contested by the Pacers, who have the right under NBA bylaws to appeal the commissioner's decision to the league's Board of Governors.

No NBA team has ever made such an appeal, according to the league.

Pacers spokesman David Benner said the team had not yet decided if or how it might contest the penalties.

Artest bolted into the stands after being hit by a cup thrown by a fan, touching off a brawl in which players exchanged punches with fans, who also threw drinks, popcorn, and other debris at the Pacers.

Jackson also went into the stands and exchanged punches with fans, while O'Neal hit a fan who ran onto the court.

---

Five Indiana Pacers and five fans were charged Wednesday for fighting during the melee that broke out at the end of a nationally televised game against the Detroit Pistons last month.

Players Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson, David Harrison and Anthony Johnson were charged with one count of assault and battery in one of the worst brawls in U.S. sports history. Jermaine O'Neal, a three-time NBA All-Star, was charged with two counts of assault and battery.

All the fans were charged with misdemeanor assault and battery, including Pistons star Ben Wallace's brother, David. Bryant Jackson also was charged with felony assault for throwing a chair into the fray, Oakland County prosecutor David Gorcyca said.

The misdemeanor carries up to three months in jail and a fine of up to $500, and the felony carries up to four years in prison. Gorcyca, however, said the players and fans would probably face probation and fines if convicted.

Gorcyca singled out spectator John Green, who faces two assault counts and, the prosecutor said, ``single-handedly incited this whole interaction between the fans and players and probably is the one that's most culpable.'' Green is accused of throwing a cup at Artest, splashing him and sparking the brawl.

John Ackerman and William Paulson, each facing an assault charge, also were accused of throwing cups in players' faces. In addition, two men were charged for walking onto the court at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Police said other fans could be charged, too.

Pacers chief executive Donnie Walsh said the team would not comment until the case is resolved. ``In the meantime, we will continue to support our players in every possible way,'' he said.

James W. Burdick, Stephen Jackson's lawyer, said it was ``unfair and inappropriate'' to charge his client.

``The problem is this: a few crazed drunken fans who created a chaotic situation,'' Burdick said. ``Steve responded in a way that he thought was necessary to protect himself and protect his friends.''

Walter Piszczatowski, Harrison's lawyer, said: ``David was acting as the peacekeeper throughout that evening. He was trying to make sure everybody was safe.''

With less than a minute left in the Pacers-Pistons game Nov. 19, Artest fouled Ben Wallace from behind on a drive to the basket. Wallace responded with a hard, two-handed shove to Artest.

That sparked an initial skirmish, and Artest retreated to the scorer's table while the referees restored calm. But then Artest was hit by the cup, and he stormed into the stands, throwing punches as he climbed over seats.

Jackson joined Artest and threw punches at fans, who punched back. O'Neal and Artest also hit fans who later came onto the court.

NBA commissioner David Stern suspended Artest for the rest of the season. Jackson was banned for 30 games, O'Neal for 25, and other players received shorter suspensions. The players' union is appealing the longer suspensions, and a grievance hearing is scheduled for Thursday in New York.

The NBA had no comment other than to say it cooperated in the investigation and did not plan further discipline.

Gorcyca said the players and fans are required to surrender to authorities because arrest warrants were issued. He said some of the accused or their attorneys contacted his office about doing so.

Bryant Jackson appeared briefly in court Wednesday afternoon to sign papers related to the charges. He did not comment to reporters.

Some of the players said the case has become a distraction for the Pacers.

``Sitting on the phone with lawyers for an hour-and-a-half or two hours basically every other day, that kind of gets frustrating,'' Johnson said. ``You've got to try to eliminate as much as possible, but it is definitely there and it is definitely a focus each and every day.

``We kind of lost our heads a little bit collectively as a unit. It's unfortunate because it's been played over and over and over again, and we're shown in a bad light. ... If we could turn back the hands of time I'm pretty sure we would handle it differently.''

Jeff Foster added: ``The whole thing has become such a circus. Something that no team's ever dealt with before. Everybody's just trying to put it behind themselves and just go on to playing basketball.'

NEW YORK (AP) -- Jermaine O'Neal won a 10-game reduction Wednesday in his suspension for fighting with fans during the Nov. 19 Pacers-Pistons brawl, but an arbitrator also upheld NBA commissioner David Stern's bans on Ron Artest and two other Indiana players.

The league said it would go to federal court to challenge arbitrator Roger Kaplan's decision, which could make O'Neal eligible to return Saturday when the Pacers host the Detroit Pistons in the teams' first matchup since one of the most violent melees in NBA history.

``We have consistently maintained that the arbitrator has no legitimate role in this matter,'' NBA deputy commissioner Russ Granik said. ``While we obviously agree with Mr. Kaplan's decision upholding virtually all of the suspensions, we don't agree with his conclusion that the conduct did not occur on the playing court, and we have no choice other than to challenge it in federal court.''

A hearing was set for 10 a.m. Thursday in U.S. District Court.

In a 28-page decision, Kaplan upheld Artest's season-long suspension and the penalties given to Stephen Jackson (30 games) and Anthony Johnson (five games).

O'Neal's ban was reduced from 25 games to 15.

The union had asked for substantial reductions in the penalties during a six-hour arbitration hearing at a Manhattan law office. The NBA declined to participate, saying Kaplan had no jurisdiction to arbitrate penalties for on-court behavior -- an area in which the league contends the commissioner has sole discretion.

``We're extremely pleased that Jermaine will have the opportunity to play, although we respectfully disagree with the decision on the other three players,'' players' union director Billy Hunter said. ``We are also pleased that the arbitrator has affirmed the right of players to appeal disciplinary measures.''

Kaplan ruled that he had jurisdiction to hear the case, and that Stern had just cause to issue the suspensions he gave to Artest, Jackson and Johnson.

The reasoning for his reduction of O'Neal's suspension was not immediately clear.

``We're gratified that the arbitrator ruled in our favor,'' said Arn Tellem, O'Neal's agent. ``Jermaine is anxious to put this matter behind him.''

The NBA has already filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court challenging Kaplan's authority to hear the grievance, a complaint that remains pending before U.S. District Judge George B. Daniels.

Each of the players testified before Kaplan during the hearing, and union attorneys submitted three lines of argument on the issue of jurisdiction.

The union cited a 1995 modification to the collective bargaining agreement allowing for appeals in cases where the financial penalty to the disciplined played exceeds $25,000. The union also argued the definitions of what constitutes ``reasonable'' punishment and ``on-court behavior.''

The arbitrator also reviewed videotape of the entire 12-minute brawl, in which Artest sprinted into the stands and confronted a fan he believed had thrown a drink at him. Jackson also went into the stands and exchanged punches with fans, while O'Neal and Johnson punched fans who came onto the court.

Five Pacers players and seven fans face criminal charges.

Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said he had no immediate comment on the ruling. Team spokesman David Benner said the Pacers would not comment until the league responded to the ruling.

Indiana has lost nine of 14 games since the brawl, using patchwork lineups in an effort to make up for the loss of three of the team's five leading scorers. O'Neal, a three-time All-Star and eight-year veteran, was to serve the 15th game of his suspension Wednesday night when the Pacers played Philadelphia.

``We need him. We've been going through a tough stretch here, short-handed every night, guys banged up, not knowing who is going to be in the lineup,'' Pacers guard Jamaal Tinsley said. ``We've got a couple of games coming up that we need him.''

Quote:

---

Animalman said:
I thought O'Neal's suspension should have been as long as Artest's, if not longer, because he wasn't provoked like Artest was. There was no "self-defense" argument in his case.

---

Quote:

---

jafabian said:
O'neal didn't initially go into the stands, and I think tapes show he initially tried to be a peacemaker but several fans attacked him and he lost his temper. That's why he got only part of the season suspended.

---