Metta World Peace elbow to Harden

[MastaStrategist]

Seems to be 2 different views on MWP's character here. Either he is a menace to the league, or he is a guy who is clueless in a lot of ways but generally sincere when he knows he made a mistake.

[theokie]

Rest of the Season + All Laker Playoff Games

+ an additional 5 to start next season


Probably be something close to that

[EscapoTHB]

Considering it's Artest and his past history, he's done for this season AND the entire playoffs. Maybe even games into next year. That will be a 20+ game suspension. No place for that in basketball. Do the Lakers still have their amnesty? Might be the last game you ever see Artest in a Laker jersey.

[MastaStrategist]

Not daft at all my dude. Have common sense, have a degree, and have been watching the NBA for a long time. Just have a different opinion than you do. Deal with it.

You are going to be very surprised with the amount of games he is suspended I think.

I doubt it. I am no longer surprised by anything Stern does at this point.

Yeah, but you must understand you are in the strong minority when you think he didn't mean to elbow Harden.

Like you're the guy sitting by yourself at the lunch table because you think your egg salad doesn't smell bad.[/quote]

When did I ever say that he didn't mean to elbow Harden?

Reading comprehension is a lost art.

[G R E Y]

Unbelievably dangerous and careless hit.

Artest bumps his chest with his right fist then cocks back his left way back and comes down hard on Harden. This contradicts his explanation to the ref when he was motioning that he was simply bumping his chest post dunk. Bull.

Artest decks a guy 'inadvertently' yet doesn't even look back when his elbow happens to hit 'something'?

There are many examples of prior incidents with his loose cannon behaviour.

The extent of Harden's injury is also a factor in the extent of the inevitable suspension. The NBA is looking into more testing/monitoring of concussions so sitting him out is of course safer, even if he passes that initial baseline test. Often times, symptoms do not show up until later. In addition, the elbow is one of the hardest joints. When it belongs to a hulk who has a history of not controlling himself, it is all the more dangerous.

This is BAD for the NBA - not just in terms of the image they want to maintain, but also in terms of teams investing tons of money into assets (players) that are hurt and therefore impact a team's chances of succeeding.

There was NOTHING basketball related about that play.

Fine him a significant amount of money, and sit him out for a significant amount of time. Just completely disgraceful.

[Kalidogg24]

Seriously though how many of you guys watched games during the 80's?
The Old guys are laughing at how soft we "the youth" is.

Except we know more about concussions and head trauma now than we did in the '80s, and have a better idea of the effects that linger for athletes long after their careers end. It's not "soft", it's just a justifiably-increased vigilance in regards to player safety based on new knowledge.

Very True. I agree 100.

Matter of the fact is that MWP will get slapped with a huge suspension either way.
Just a lifetime ban is still excessive IMO.

James Harrison and Ndamukong Suh in the NFL are in the same class as MWP as of now.
There the players the Commissioners in their respectable leagues pay more attention to. Harrison and Suh pretty much got away with murder last season the NFL and they didn't get a lifetime ban.

I know a huge difference in physicality from the NFL to the NBA but it's all in good Ethics.

[Sky_Knicks]

Ron did it intentionally and he already had it in his mind he would try to play it off as part of his celebration.
There's also no doubt in my mind Harden was trying to draw a foul. He ran into Artest hoping Artest would push him away. He didn't think about how crazy Artest is though

[sfernald]

Metta WorldPeace‏@MettaWorldPeace
Hope James Hardin is ok... I remember when I hit by Marc Gasol the same way.. I was spitting up blood and a headache during the game..

This is pretty bad right here.

It makes it seem like he is trivializing the act. That it has happened to him before, so it's commonplace.

This was a very calculated tweet. Probably not winning him points with the league or the public.

really? i think he meant to convey that he understands the type of pain/damage he could have caused

It was probably primarily intended to show that he has empathy. But it just comes off as damage control all around. His lawyer should probably advise him to stop tweeting at this point.

[MastaStrategist]

How much more ok do you guys think stepping on a guys face is than this? Especially if he was just throwing an elbow to clear space in the middle of a celebration, and not throwing an elbow to purposely knock someone out?

[CrazyKnicks]

Seriously though how many of you guys watched games during the 80's?
The Old guys are laughing at how soft we "the youth" is.

Except we know more about concussions and head trauma now than we did in the '80s, and have a better idea of the effects that linger for athletes long after their careers end. It's not "soft", it's just a justifiably-increased vigilance in regards to player safety based on new knowledge.

+1

There's a difference between physical play and flat out head blows that can mess up a guy's brain. This isn't some "no lay up" rule or the Jordan rules. But leave it to some classless fans who'll defend a guy on their team regardless without understanding the potential ramifications of a blow like that.

[ikidunot]

If James Harden and OKC can forgive Metta, it baffles me that everyone else is in such an uproar about it. The ejection was enough punishment.

[Ozark]

If anyone thinks the NBA will let Artest step on the court for a playoff game in OKC after what he just did is nuts. At a bare minimum, the ban will cover any potential second round games, they don't want more bad pub and a security nightmare.

[Nate505]

Kendrick Perkins: "Metta World Peace is a good dude so I know he wouldn't try to hurt nobody."

NBA players will stick up for their own no matter what. I was disgusted by Al Jefferson when he said (paraphrasing) that that "Delonte West is a good guy" after his thing with Hayward, and this is 1,000x worse.

[MelosSoreWrist]

You are going to be very surprised with the amount of games he is suspended I think.

I doubt it. I am no longer surprised by anything Stern does at this point.

Yeah, but you must understand you are in the strong minority when you think he didn't mean to elbow Harden.

Like you're the guy sitting by yourself at the lunch table because you think your egg salad doesn't smell bad.

I dont think he meant to elbow Harden in the back of his head. I think he meant to "elbow shove" James off of him but it went violently awry. There was malicious intent, but not quite to the degree is played out... Just my opinion of course.

[MastaStrategist]

Something I think most people are missing here is that Artest is a guy who usually only gets in trouble for escalating things when someone acts aggressively towards him. He's not a guy who just randomly goes after defenseless players.

[G R E Y]

Metta WorldPeace‏@MettaWorldPeace
Hope James Hardin is ok... I remember when I hit by Marc Gasol the same way.. I was spitting up blood and a headache during the game..

The cynic in me sees damage control. And he didn't even look back when his elbow connected. But so what if he's sorry. He's a REPEAT OFFENDER. You can say sorry all you like, but your actions dictate the weight of your words.

[bruddahmanmatt]

I doubt it. I am no longer surprised by anything Stern does at this point.

Yeah, but you must understand you are in the strong minority when you think he didn't mean to elbow Harden.

Like you're the guy sitting by yourself at the lunch table because you think your egg salad doesn't smell bad.

I dont think he meant to elbow Harden in the back of his head. I think he meant to "elbow shove" James off of him but it went violently awry. There was malicious intent, but not quite to the degree is played out... Just my opinion of course.

I agree. He pulled a gun just to make a point but then the s*** went off on accident.

[K1NG]

If James Harden and OKC can forgive Metta, it baffles me that everyone else is in such an uproar about it. The ejection was enough punishment.

I see your username, but are you kidding me?

[Wooderson]

Something I think most people are missing here is that Artest is a guy who usually only gets in trouble for escalating things when someone acts aggressively towards him. He's not a guy who just randomly goes after defenseless players.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkjQNz1gt0g[/youtube]

[-[Clippers]-]

If James Harden and OKC can forgive Metta, it baffles me that everyone else is in such an uproar about it. The ejection was enough punishment.

You are DELUSIONAL.