Get thug mentality out of professional sports

The Detroit News

NBA Should Banish Thugs Like Ron Artest

Basketball league can blame itself for the Palace rampage because it tolerates players who behave badly

Basketball used to be such a pretty game. From Bing to Bird, Magic to Michael, the games' grace and beauty reflected the players' mastery of the fundamental skills of shooting, passing, rebounding and dribbling.

And sportsmanship mattered, both on and off the court.

But Friday's players-fans slugfest at the Palace of Auburn Hills exposed the National Basketball (Basketbrawl?) Association in particular, and professional sports in general, for what it has become: a haven for thugs.

And the fans love it. So the NBA keeps filling its rosters with players who ought to be filling cell blocks. Players like Ron Artest.

The Indiana Pacer had been suspended and/or fined by the NBA seven times before he raged through the stands at the Palace, assaulting Pistons fans and acting like a pure fool. The previous discipline obviously served as no deterrent.

Why would it? Handing a $10,000 fine to players who make $50,000 a game is weak. It's not going to alter the way they behave, but it may help them sell a few more rap CDs.

Now Artest is gone for the rest of the season in what the NBA is calling its most severe response to on-court misbehavior. But Artest knows he will be back. Latrell Sprewell lost a season for choking his coach, but is still playing, still making the big bucks and still acting up.

The NBA has sent a clear message to its players that it will tolerate anything, as long as they can play the game. Fans are equal partners, embracing the most offensive players and mimicking their unruliness in the stands.

Kobe Bryant commuted from a Colorado courtroom, where he faced rape charges that were later dropped, to last season's NBA playoffs, where fans welcomed him with standing ovations.

Pistons Coach Larry Brown moved to Detroit from Philadelphia last year after the 76ers allowed star Allen Iverson to defy the coach and shrug off practice.

Anything goes. And everything is tolerated.

The result is what we saw at the Palace Friday night: Players behaving badly, because they know nothing they do will cut them off from their mega-million dollar paychecks.

In fairness, the Ron Artests are the minority in the NBA. Many Pistons and other pro basketball players devote a considerable amount of time to doing good in their communities. But the NBA has allowed a handful of players it would be much better off without to tarnish the entire league.

A lengthy suspension might seem a severe penalty. But in most businesses, someone who behaved like Artest did Friday night would be gone for good.

The NBA would only have to banish a few players permanently to send the message to everyone else that character and sportsmanship do matter.

Ron Artest would have been a good place to start.