No Bynum Suspension

[ohara]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3870190

From this, the NBA upgraded the foul to a Flagrant 2, but will not suspend Bynum. That seems odd to me. If they were not going to suspend him, why not leave it at a Flagrant 1 ? Moving it up to Flagrant 2 might result in a higher fine I guess.

[PDXKnight]

The NBA FO is a joke...

[ohara]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketba ... lace_N.htm

Well, it seems that LB was against the upgrade to a Flagrant 2. He said Bynum waited by the team bus to apologize. If LB buys his sincerity and apology, and Crash is his player, then I can also.

[W_HAMILTON]

So, instead of throwing his money to the ho's at the dance club, he'll just give some of it to the NBA instead? Boy, I bet that stings for him.

We should have used that last roster spot on an enforcer goon to handle these matters on our own. A lot of our players are pu$@!*$. If Bynum had done that to someone else on the court, you can be sure Wallace would have had a word with him.

[Desiderium]

point of upgrading it to flagrant 2 is that now, bynums got 3 pts on his record instead of 2. 2 more pts and he gets a nice penalty by the league(probably a game suspension or something). good luck rest of the season and hopefully wallace will be ok.

[-Ian-]

That's really unfair!

[e4Nf6]

Does this surprise anybody? It's the Lakers, and the NBA is not exactly famous for its integrity...

[carolinabred]

Does this surprise anybody? It's the Lakers, and the NBA is not exactly famous for its integrity...

Unfortunately, no.

[Walt Cronkite]

So now I have to root for Bynum to flagrant foul more players so he can be properly punished? One game, that's all I'm asking.

[chrbal]

Larry Brown is old school. This will be taken care of on March 31st (had to look it up).

But its nice that Bynum apologized, it would have been nicer if he didn't collapse Wallaces' lungs and break his ribs...

[doc.end]

Yes I agree that Larry realizes that our play off chancves are smaller so he made a move towards a lottery:)

[doc.end]

So, instead of throwing his money to the ho's at the dance club, he'll just give some of it to the NBA instead? Boy, I bet that stings for him.

We should have used that last roster spot on an enforcer goon to handle these matters on our own. A lot of our players are pu$@!*$. If Bynum had done that to someone else on the court, you can be sure Wallace would have had a word with him.

Yeah, DJ should stand up and tell Bynum he will kinda fold .)

[ohara]

My guess is the Bobcat players will see how Crash responds to treatment and rest. If he's still out when we play the Lakers again, I think someone takes matters into their own hands. And it will be ugly. Like Ammo clotheslining Kobe and putting him out for the year or something. Stern may have opened the door here for a big time case of revenge. But like I said, it likely depends on whether Crash is able to return or not.

[Dexmor]

Somebody always needs to step in to be the protecter when a player goes down but more to send a message. No reason Mek can't do it as strong as he is. He is an ox. It's very possible nobody did here because the intent was not to hurt.

This reminds me a little of Juwan Howard fouling DA when he was on the Spurs I believe it was about 5 years ago. He made a play at the rim but Howard is no shotblocker and ended up slamming him to the ground without meaning it. Nobody did anything and the broadcasters said that was not intentional, we all know Howard and know he isn't dirty.
Bynum is young so most don't know him yet but Bynum isn't dirty and if Bynum were a 12 year vet playing clean all that time people would have let it go. The only reason why it's such a big deal here is because A.Wallace ended up with a trip to the hospital and is out for a while B.Bobcats fans don't know Bynum or at least it would seem and C.Wallace is the Bobcats best player. If this
happened to Amam Morrison the only one who would still be talking about it is SteveMorrison15.

Just as I suspected though Lakers fans are to light and Cats fans are to hard. Even I am in the middle and said Bynum should get suspended but clearly didn't intend on hurting him and even Slam a respected Mod gets upset.

[Paydro70]

I disagree with B and C. Obviously the trip to the hospital is what's making this a bigger deal, but I don't think it matters who the player is. If Ajinca's lung got collapsed on a flagrant, I think we'd be just as pissed about it. Bynum's relative "cleanness" is unimportant... a clean player can make a dirty play (not that I'm saying this was). I don't care what the guy is like.

I actually think that 90% of the comments I've read on this foul, on both the Lakers board and here, have been right on... some variant on the play being lazy/stupid/bad/aggressive/unnecessary, but ultimately not with intent to injure (and thus "dirty"). The trouble comes when people say things like "in the 80s this was no big deal" "this is a league with no balls" "yeah Bynum needs to send a message bc people said the lakers weren't tough" "it's not bynum's fault" "Wallace shouldn't have jumped into him" etc. etc., all of which suggest that what Bynum did was in some way acceptable.

Unfortunately, I think not suspending him suggests the same thing... if Horford gets a 1 game suspension for actually trying to go for the ball on Ford and failing (much like Adam Morrison's foul on Gasol, called exclusively because he hit his head and not his arm, and deservedly so), then I have no idea how elbowing a player flying through the air and not attempting on the ball at all is not a suspension.

[fatlever]

half the people saying "in the 80s this was no big deal" werent even old enough to remember bball in the 80s.

i find that quite funny. in the 80s you would see a lot more fights (since the punishment was not as severe and you didnt have so much media attention so it wasnt in the spotlight as much) and you'd see teams occasionally send a message to a player that would result in a dirty hard foul. so, yes, the game was dirtier back then. but, for the most part, the game was not nearly as physical as it is today. i'd say the ball in the mid to late 90s was the peak of physical basketball.

in the 80s bynums foul would still be dirty, the only difference, the play would have been followed by a bench clearing shoving match. i still kinda wished okafor would have at least got in bynums face. i mean, okafor was right there and saw the whole thing and he didnt even react.

[Dexmor]

That's true but in the 80's players played more on the ground. If you have that mentality and slam a guy while skying above the rim you can brake his neck. The game has to change with the players.

[fatlever]

That's true but in the 80's players played more on the ground. If you have that mentality and slam a guy while skying above the rim you can brake his neck. The game has to change with the players.

i agree 100%. the game has change and players spend a lot more time above the rim, exposed to defenders. if you intentionally foul an airborn player in a manner that could result in serious injury you should expect to be suspended and fined. period. either make a play for the ball, or deal with the consequences of your actions.

and if okafor would have punched bynum in the face then we should have all expected him to be punished for his actions. end the end, each player has to decide of the ends justifies the means. in okafor's case, i would have been OK with him being suspended for a game or two in order to send a message to the league. but if he suspension would have been 10 games or something ridiculous, well, probably a good think okafor doesnt have a mean streak.

[BigSlam]

The only reason why it's such a big deal here is because
A.Wallace ended up with a trip to the hospital and is out for a while
B.Bobcats fans don't know Bynum or at least it would seem and
C.Wallace is the Bobcats best player.

Then why are so many posters on the general board - who aren't Bobcats fans and have no vested interest in either team or the outcome - so disgusted?

[eagles nut]

Because the majority of posters on the General Board are laker haters to begin with.