Metta World Peace elbow to Harden

[-[Clippers]-]

I see this just as a second strike for Artest, the first blow up was clearly intentionally and put shame upon the league like no other.

This second offense WAS NOT intentionally, so it should be dealed with accordingly but a lifetime ban would be overstepping.

the players association could destroy the NBA in court.

They couldn't stop the NBA from giving Roy Tarpley a lifetime ban over his drug use, why would they be able to stop the NBA from banning Artest for his dangerous rage issues?

[-[Clippers]-]

Your player **** up, deal with it.

this is really good advice. whenever a player does something stupid or criticism worthy, fans need to man up and swallow it. like when a player chokes or worse, flops, as a fan you just gotta man up and stop crying about the hate it brings. amiright?

Hey, I admit Blake's a flopper. I've even learned to embrace the flop. Doesn't mean I can't laugh at the haters from time to time.

[theokie]

this is really good advice. whenever a player does something stupid or criticism worthy, fans need to man up and swallow it. like when a player chokes or worse, flops, as a fan you just gotta man up and stop crying about the hate it brings. amiright?

Hey, I admit Blake's a flopper. I've even learned to embrace the flop. Doesn't mean I can't laugh at the haters from time to time.

Harden flops too. Fans of teams have to admit players aren't perfect.

And to be honest, when Harden first went down I thought he flopped.

[sfernald]

My guess is that Ron Artest has probably killed or crippled someone in his life given his past history and the fact that no one changes their name to something like world peace unless they are feeling guilty about something.

I don't know what kind of punishment he should get. But I will accept the league's judgement. If it's three games, so be it. If it 's the playoffs so be it. If it's a lifetime ban, so be it. The league knows what to do with Artest. Stern probably has a file cabinet filled with stuff on Artest.

My guess is at some point after the Malice in the Palace, Stern warned Artest that if something like that happened ever again, he would be banned. So honestly it wouldn't surprise me one bit if that happened, even though it wouldn't be fair to Artest necessarily.

Just hope Harden is ok, he is one of the best young players in the league. One of my favorite's to watch, even though his team is a big enemy.

[Kalidogg24]

"Man Up"

You're on a message board

So on a message board it's okay to cry about it like a baby.

Sorry my friend. Didn't know.

WOMAN UP!!!!

[TeeheeDumDum]

10 game suspension if Harden comes out okay.

I definitely don't think a lifetime ban. Minimum would be the remaining regular season games and one playoff series. I'd probably just give it a flat 25 game ban. Melo got 15 for the Knicks Nuggets brawl, and Artest gets additional punishment because of his reputation.

The thing is, it was a brawl. Things got escalated, which is why his ban was so large. If you're looking at more recent precedents, I'm guessing it's closer to 15 than 25 games.

[Deathray]

I don't know how bad Harden is injured but there's a reason shots to that part of the head are banned in MMA, it's potentially very dangerous.

I'll put it this way...if an MMA fighter threw an elbow like that after the bell/horn, when his opponent wasn't ready, that fighter would be suspended. Paul Daley got cut from the UFC for a sucker punch.

[Doctor MJ]

Not a Lakers fan but that was no where near as bad as people make it out to be, what kind of f***tard is saying that could cause irreversible damage? Come on seriously?

Seriously. It's pretty dang obvious. I'm not saying how likely such damage is - I don't know - but there's actually quite a bit of serious head trauma in the NBA. Concussions cause permanent damage. Broken noses are permanent damage. That hit looked to me like it was by the ear and jaw. A hit in that area could cause permanent hearing loss or TMJ.

The hit looked a lot more near the neck to me.

When I watch the film, I see Harden's ear blocking part of Ron's elbow. I understand that it looks like Ron's going to hit the neck, but the the swing follow an upward curve. Not saying that necessarily makes things worse, but looking at the hit the only neck damage I though of was a sideways whiplash. I was much more concerned for the various little bones by the jaw hinge and ear. Messing that up can make little things like eating hell.

[Kalidogg24]

And to be honest, when Harden first went down I thought he flopped.

yeah its obvious he didn't flop. I actually thought from the camera angle that James was trying to get the inbound pass right like really quick.

Instead it was unfortunate he ran into MWP while he was trying to celebrate dunking on Ibaka and Durant.

[Don Ford]

So you think Artest deserves a lifetime ban?

The league has literally tried everything else to get him to stop, yet he hasn't and probably never will. It's not like this is his first offense. Artest's entire career has been a pattern of despicable cheap shots and rage issues, and it reflects poorly on the NBA if they let it go on any further.

You mean because he's been suspended one time for one game in the last five years?

Funny how anytime there's a thread that's negative towards the Lakers you can absolutely be counted on to show up. I'm sure that it's been frustrating being a Clippers fan in a Lakers town all of these years but maybe you should try to enjoy the Clippers recent success rather than spending so much of your time trying to denigrate everything the Lakers do.

As far as the elbow. Absolutely stupid and dangerous thing for Artest to have done. Not trying to defend him at all for this and he'll obviously get a well deserved suspension for it. 3-5 games would be my guess.

[hollabackitsobi]

Artest should be banned from the league for this. Anything less will be disappointed, given his prior history, including the 86-gamer from Pacers-Pistons.

Bynum and Odom, in retrospect, should have been given stiffer penalties as well. But this is going to show where the league is at with regards to this stuff. Anything less than a permanent ban should be protested.

That time of the month again?

Definitely not a surprise your crying about it.

Posts like this disgust me. You think I'm taking team affiliation into consideration here? This was a potentially life-threatening act of violence. ANY force applied to the head can result in traumatic, even fatal brain injury and trauma, especially when one is blindsided and not given enough time to prepare for or brace for a hit. Did you see how Harden's neck whipped? Seriously, Metta World Peace is one of the largest players in the NBA, but even JJ Barea could have caused injury had he taken a similar swing.

What World Peace did was vicious and has no place in the game of basketball.

[MastaStrategist]

Arrest issues statement

From Kevin Ding's tweet:

Metta: "I got really emotional, really excited. And it was unfortunate that James had to get hit with the unintentional elbow.
I hope he's OK. The Thunder, they're playing for a championship this year. So I really hope he's OK, and I apologize to the Thunder and to James Harden. Such a great game, and it was unfortunate so much emotion was going on at that time."

And people will call this disingenuous.

Not me. I actually really like Ron. He just has a hair trigger. I'm sure he feels bad, and my talk about banning him isn't because I think he "deserves" it. It's just a question of what kind of punishment makes sense for a violent repeat offender.

Those who don't think he should be banned: Tell me what punishment you think can be given to Ron that will make sure this never happens again.[/quote]

2-3 game suspension. You guys might laugh, but I've seen Ron break up more fights over the last 2 years than any other player in the L. I think he's really changed, and people are just looking at this thinking he's the same old Ron from '04. I think it was a clear "get off me while I'm celebrating move", not a "damn, perfect chance to give a guy a concussion move". This is the guy who sells his championship rings to fans, plays pick-up football games with fans, gives to dozens of charities and speaks out against bullying. You really need to look at the person he is now, not the person he was back when he was getting drunk in the locker room before games.

[peja drobnjak]

yeah, a ten to fifteen game suspension seems deserved

i didn't see anyone make a big deal of when fisher elbowed scola just as blatantly, but i guess the back of the head is just a nasty spot

[JACKBARNEY]

look at the recent hockey suspension....Torres just got 25 games for a brutal hit. The NHL clamped down and basically said its unnaceptable. And we're talking about a contact sport that condones fighting and guys getting hit hard all the time. This is basketball. There is no room for BS like this. Don't people get this? Whats a 3 to 5 game suspension really going to teach Artest? I'm part of the side that hopes Stern enforces a zero tolerance policy and puts the hammer down.

In the wake of Torres hit, and the NFL bounty scandal, Artest picked a really dumb time to fully deck an unsuspecting player.

Nice post, I hink you nailed it with these comments.

The 25 gamer for Torres really jumps out right now and Stern can't appear being soft on a thuggish act.

[theokie]

"Man Up"

You're on a message board

So on a message board it's okay to cry about it like a baby.

Sorry my friend. Didn't know.

WOMAN UP!!!!

Theres the mature response

You're making your Laker fan base look bad. I'd quit while you were ahead

[Kalidogg24]

10 game suspension if Harden comes out okay.

Imo 10 is a little too much.

But it's definitely possible.
I think 2 to 3 games is fair.

[ZB9]

Ron Artest makes a mockery of the game and the league with his flaky crazy antics..changing his name to "metta world peace"? wtf.

the guy is a joke

[INKtastic]

Not a Lakers fan but that was no where near as bad as people make it out to be, what kind of f***tard is saying that could cause irreversible damage? Come on seriously?

There's only one reason people are saying that. And that's because concussions can lead to irreversible brain damage. Just last month, San Diego Chargers all pro guard Kris Dielman retired because of the lingering effects of a concussion he received 4 1/2 months prior.

octors say that concussions are the most serious injury in sports and the most difficult to diagnose due to the fact that it is invisible (Washburn 2). The dangerous part about not being able to detect a concussion is that players resume playing and are three times more-likely to suffer another. Even if an athlete receives a concussion and returns too soon, that athlete is at risk of receiving the "second impact syndrome" which causes irreversible brain damage or even fatality.

http://www.freeonlineresearchpapers.com ... l-athletes

[Kalidogg24]

"Man Up"

You're on a message board

So on a message board it's okay to cry about it like a baby.

Sorry my friend. Didn't know.

WOMAN UP!!!!

Theres the mature response

You're making your Laker fan base look bad. I'd quit while you were ahead

I for one already admitted the Thunder are better than us.
An as for the Lakers board I'm actually smacking up alot of the dumb comments coming at us.

Check my post history son. No ignorance on terms of hoops talk.
I'm man enough to admit that there are teams waay better than us right now.

Stop trying to stir up dust. Your making the Thunder fan base look bad with your whining and bickering.

[sopclod]

Harden learned the hard way not to get up in MWP's face. That's just his inexperience I think that made him do that. With that being said, MWP doesn't need to be in the league anymore when you factor in his past history. No sane player is going to want to guard his crazy unstable ass.

I've seen this point mentioned a few times now, but this happens like a dozen times per game after a scoring play, guys are constantly bumping into each other and showing each other up. It's not an excuse for assault.

Also I think the fact that Harden was completely blindsided, i.e. he had no chance to defend himself or get out of the way, is a major factor (compared to the malone nash thing for instance).