Fight Night at MSG

Over the summer I raved here about how Carmelo Anthony was the best player on the United States men’s basketball team. My friend Rich took exception to that. He argued that Carmelo was just a punk who would be in jail if he didn’t pay his friends to take drug raps for him. Rich was making reference to a couple of incidents. Earlier this year, Anthony loaned his car to a friend who was pulled over and cited for marijuana possession. Back in October 2004, Carmelo carried a backpack with an ounce of marijuana in it as he was boarding a plane and got caught. Another friend of Anthony’s claimed the pot was his.

Of course immediately following Saturday’s brawl between the New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets at Madison Square Garden I got an e-mail from him saying, “See, I told you so.” Yup, that’s the kind of friends I have.

After reading Richard’s e-mail, I went to find a recap of the game on Yahoo Sports. Then I tuned in to ESPNEWS to see the footage myself. At first it didn’t look that bad and that the main culprits for escalating the tensions were J.R. Smith and Nate Robinson by going into the courtside seats. And then I saw it. As things were quieting down, Carmelo decided to sucker punch Mardy Collins, the player who committed the flagrant foul on J.R. Smith to start the whole mess. That punch is one of the most cowardly acts I have ever seen.

If you’re going to throw a punch during an NBA game, at least be a man about it. Don’t throw the punch while someone’s guard is down and starting running away like a scared five-year old. As bad as Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson’s conduct was in the Detroit/Indiana melee a couple of years ago, at least they didn’t run away. I would have a lot more respect for Anthony if he had stood up to Mardy Collins after the punch and not run away from Nate Robinson, who happens to be about a foot shorter than him.

While I still don’t see the connection between being a pothead and throwing a sucker punch at an NBA game, I do admit that my impression of Carmelo has been tarnished. I still consider him one of the best players in the game. He’s leading the league in scoring and has guided his team to the playoffs every year that he’s been in the league. I just hope he learns a thing or two from the 15 game suspension that he has received from the NBA.

When I first heard that the suspension would be for 15 games I was a bit surprised. I was expecting between 5 and 10 games. Obviously the NBA is trying to make a statement that such behavior will not be tolerated and the suspension would not have been as long if Ron Artest had not gone into the stands in that Detroit/Indiana brawl. While I understand the league’s position, I still consider the punishment unfair and don’t consider the incident that grave. Frankly the incident was a pillow fight in comparison to the University of Miami/Florida International University fracas that took place a couple of months ago.

However, I do approve of the $500,000 fine the NBA imposed on both the Knicks and Nuggets since I felt that the coaches of both teams were somewhat culpable in the incident. It appears that Isiah Thomas of the Knicks ordered the flagrant foul after the Nuggets head coach George Karl left his starting players with a minute left in the game and a 20-point lead. Karl defended his actions by saying that his team had a habit of blowing big leads and that's why he kept his starters in. But did he really think the Knicks could overcome such a large deficit in a minute. I just don't buy it. Regardless, now that David Stern has made his decision and the punishments have been handed out, hopefully we can avoid another Fight Night at an NBA game for the foreseeable future.