Fortson suspended 3 games

[kg_veteran]

Fair enough. I'll just agree to disagree with you. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[kg_veteran]

Public outcry or not, the changes wouldn't have been made if the owners didn't support them. Also, remember that Mark isn't the only owner who's been airing his complaints publicly this past week.

I have no problem with lobbying to change the rules. I just have a problem with labeling something as being "dangerous to players" and saying you're concerned about it, because the truth of the matter is, everybody's just out there to win.

[FreshJive]

Saw this somewhere:

Mavs cannot enforce any extra penalties in addition to the NBA's penalties except for terminating Fortson's contract. Even then they would have to prove that Fortson's actions merit a contract termination.


Collective Bargaining Agreement, Article VI, Section 6:
Section 6. One Penalty.

(a) The NBA and a Team shall not discipline a player for the same act or conduct. The NBA’s disciplinary action will preclude or supersede disciplinary action by any Team for the same act or conduct.

(b) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in Section 6(a), the same act or conduct by a player may result in both a termination of the player’s Uniform Player Contract by his Team and the suspension of the player by the NBA if the egregious nature of the act or conduct is so lacking in justification as to warrant such double penalty.

[kg_veteran]

Thanks for that info, FJ.

So Cuban's hands were tied by the CBA.

[madape]

Good find FreshJive. I guess there isn't much more the Mavericks can legally do. I have learned something today.

[MavKikiNYC]

Uhm.....would terminating his contract free up some cap room?

[superheadcat]

my take:

fortson made a foul play, and as a result, nba imposed certain penalty. those r facts.
now, some people consider those penalty "fair" (like cuban), and some people consider them not fair (like suns owner, or madape). but now, these are not matter of facts, they r matter of opinions. just because u agree with one opinion does not mean those who agree with the other opinions were wrong or morally suspectible.

now for cuban's response:
1. suns owner voiced his opinion about the fairness of the penalty, and proposed a special committee from nba to discuss this issue.
2. in response to the fairness of the penalty, cuban stated while he understands the suns owner stood up for his player, he believe the penalty is fair
3. in response to the special committee, he stated he'll support suns owner if he goes beyond seeking "apathy", and advocates a "higher level of activism", which, by cuban's interpretation, includes discussing other issues like international play or charge rules. that means, if the suns owner only wants a committee for this particular penalty, cuban won't support it.

it looks to me cuban's comments are very much right on topic and closely related to what suns owner was saying. and how big a strech it is to say more owners with such attitude would be a good thing to nba?

to criticize cuban for being hypocritical, one has to prove either one of the following:
1. contrary to what he said, actually, privately, in his mind, cuban believes the penalty is not fair, but for some reason, he chose to lie about his feeling and publically stated he believe the penalty is fair.
2. generally, nba would carry out a penalty of different magnitude for this kind of foul play, but somehow, someway, cuban is able to influence nba's decision making, which resulted in the current penalty. and then cuban claims publically that the penalty is fair.

either case, it is helluva burden of proof.

[bernardos70]

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/sports/ba...ll/7402557.htm

Flagrant foul stigma

Danny Fortson has served his three-game suspension for last week's flagrant-2 foul, and he's eligible to return to the lineup Thursday against the Lakers. Don Nelson is looking forward to plugging Fortson back into the frontline rotation, especially with Dirk Nowitzki out, but the Mavs' coach wonders if the rugged center will be allowed to play his game.

"I'm worried that referees won't let it go," Nelson said. "Eddie Najera is still paying the price for when he bumped the referee, and that was as innocent as you can get. He didn't deserve [a suspension]. ... I hope that doesn't happen to Danny."

Najera was ejected and suspended last season after making contact with an official during a game at Orlando. Though the Mavs believe Najera's suspension was unwarranted, owner Mark Cuban applauded the NBA for applying the same standard to San Antonio's Tim Duncan, who received a one-game penalty for pushing an official Saturday.

"There has to be some consistency based on precedent," Cuban said. "To the league's credit, they handled it the right way."