Some Quotes Concerning the Riot - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

Evilmav2 · 11-20-2004, 09:21 PM

"People are putting all the burden on (Ron) Artest, and I don't think that's fair. He's an easy target because of all the things he's been through. But some fans have gotten to a point where they think they can do or say anything. I think civility needs to try to make a comeback."
-- Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy.

"You can't blame a player for reacting that way. You can't blame anybody. ... He was protecting himself. Nobody wants to be disrespected like that. You can say what you want as long as you don't put your hands on somebody else or touch him. You can't blame him." -- Toronto Raptors guard Vince Carter defending Ron Artest.

"Shocking, repulsive and inexcusable -- a humiliation for everyone associated with the NBA."
-- NBA commissioner David Stern.

"If you're a fan, and you step on the court, guys are going to come after you. I'm not saying the players did the right thing, but if you step on the court, then you are fair game. Players don't know if you're carrying a knife or something. You can hurt somebody."
-- Cleveland Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

"The foul could have been avoided, the retaliation could have been avoided, it all could have been avoided. There's enough blame to go around. But I wasn't out there on the court, so I don't really know the emotion that was out there."
-- Los Angeles Clippers forward Elton Brand.

dude1394 · 11-20-2004, 09:34 PM

There are some grown-ups in this list. I hope la appreciates elton brand.

Dirkenstien · 11-20-2004, 10:02 PM

This is a good thread. Lets make sure to keep it updated as we gather more perspectives from different players around the league on what happened. I'd really like to hear what Dirk has to say about it.

FishForLunch · 11-20-2004, 10:57 PM

Ron Artest did the same thing Jerry Sloan would have done,

A guy hit me in the head with an aerosol can coming right out of the huddle, and it kind of got me a little bit unnerved. I should have been smarter, but I wasn't. I've always tried to remind players to stay on the bench if there's a fight." — Utah coach Jerry Sloan, who as a player went into the stands to confront a fan in Kansas City.

MavKikiNYC · 11-21-2004, 10:00 AM

Jerry Stackhouse, reflecting a mentality that is the root of the problem:

"Obviously, the best of both worlds is to take it and walk away. And that's what everybody's going to say. But man to man, if you throw something and hit me in my face, that's just like you punching me in my face. If you're in a position where I can get back to you, as a man, come on. That's what our country is built on. It's competition and being a man."

"We can all sit here and say it," he said. "But if somebody throws a cup in your face and you're already in the heat of battle, how are you going to react? I would hope everybody on our team, as well as me, would respond in the right way. But all that stuff – leaving the bench – it's tough because you're seeing your teammates getting hit. That's what we preach and what we stand for: Help your teammate, help your teammate."

kg_veteran · 11-21-2004, 10:04 AM

The ability to win a fistfight has absolutely nothing to do with manhood.

Dirkenstien · 11-21-2004, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by: kg_veteran
The ability to win a fistfight has absolutely nothing to do with manhood.

You're correct, KG. It's very sad that many individuals (including Stackhouse) actually hold this perception though.

Power and physical ability under control is a great sign of character and self respect; resorting to violence by retaliation is not.

MavKikiNYC · 11-21-2004, 09:16 PM

Billy Hunter, executive director of the N.B.A. players union, issued a statement that said:

"On behalf of all of our members we want to offer our sincerest apology to N.B.A. fans everywhere. No one can condone the level of incitement and violence we all witnessed. Clearly, there's a need to institute measures and safeguards to improve the safety of players and fans alike, to ensure that an incident like this never occurs again."

MavKikiNYC · 11-21-2004, 09:55 PM

Kurt Thomas:

"Wow," Thomas said after being told of the suspension. "Wow. That's all I can say."

"You never know how someone reacts during a situation like that," Thomas said. "You wish that it didn't happen to this league . . . A year ? I mean, I love to play the game. To sit out a whole year ... We knew it was going to be a tough decision, a tough ruling coming down. That's why David Stern's the commissioner."

MavKikiNYC · 11-21-2004, 10:02 PM

Jamison Brewer, former 12th string PG with the pacers, current spare with the NYKs:

Knicks president Isiah Thomas, once the Pacers' coach, wasn't available to talk, but one of Artest's former Indiana teammates did invoke Thomas' name in discussing his feeling that the players were provoked.

"I'm glad I wasn't there. I would have been all in there, too," Knicks guard Jamison Brewer said. "To tell you the truth, Isiah would have been there, too."

"Me kind of knowing Ron, he didn't want no problem," Brewer said. "I know he's kind of hurt by it a lot, the whole situation . . . He shouldn't get a whole season. I guess they're trying to set an example for players or something. That's taking a lot of money out of someone's pocket.

"I'm not saying it was good, but I would have done the same thing. Somebody hit me with something, my momma always taught me, I'm going to hit them back. When I seen the fans on the court, you've got to protect yourself."

Murphy3 · 11-21-2004, 10:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by: MavKikiNYC
Jamison Brewer:

Knicks president Isiah Thomas, once the Pacers' coach, wasn't available to talk, but one of Artest's former Indiana teammates did invoke Thomas' name in discussing his feeling that the players were provoked.

"I'm glad I wasn't there. I would have been all in there, too," Knicks guard Jamison Brewer said. "To tell you the truth, Isiah would have been there, too."

"Me kind of knowing Ron, he didn't want no problem," Brewer said. "I know he's kind of hurt by it a lot, the whole situation . . . He shouldn't get a whole season. I guess they're trying to set an example for players or something. That's taking a lot of money out of someone's pocket.

"I'm not saying it was good, but I would have done the same thing. Somebody hit me with something, my momma always taught me, I'm going to hit them back. When I seen the fans on the court, you've got to protect yourself."

Then your mama's a fool.

Dirkenstien · 11-22-2004, 12:32 AM

Quote:

"I'm not saying it was good, but I would have done the same thing. Somebody hit me with something, my momma always taught me, I'm going to hit them back. When I seen the fans on the court, you've got to protect yourself."

Some quality parenting going on. I agree with you on this one, Murphy.

chumdawg · 11-22-2004, 01:18 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by: Dirkenstien

Quote:

"I'm not saying it was good, but I would have done the same thing. Somebody hit me with something, my momma always taught me, I'm going to hit them back. When I seen the fans on the court, you've got to protect yourself."

Some quality parenting going on. I agree with you on this one, Murphy.

I'm glad everyone doesn't agree with you and Murph on this one, else the bad guys would be out hitting the good guys all day, every day. With impunity.

Evilmav2 · 11-22-2004, 02:40 AM

This is what Jermaine O'Neal's agent and one of the Simon brothers has to say about today's shamefully capricious and arbitrary suspensions:

Quote:

"No one can condone what happened in Auburn Hills. But no one can justify the NBA’s rush to judgment regarding Jermaine O’Neal," Tellem said. "The facts are undisputed: Jermaine O'Neal never left the court during the entire incident. Without any consideration of the danger created by fans running wildly and aggressively on the court, without any consideration of the players' fear for their own safety while they were under attack, without review of the security failures of both the NBA and the Palace, and without any consideration of past player disciplinary rulings, the NBA has singled out Jermaine O’Neal in an arbitrary and capricious way. We will vigorously contest the NBA’s outrageous decision and demand that his side of the story be heard."
--Jermaine O'Neal's agent, Arn Tellem, issuing a strong statement in defense of his client saying that they will appeal the decision.

“While we do not condone some of the actions of the players involved, we do consider the action taken Sunday by the National Basketball Association to be unprecedented and inappropriate based on the circumstances. We believe that there was a rush to judgment and not enough opportunity for all sides to be heard. We will vigorously support our players in any available appeal process in order to have these penalties reviewed and reduced. We owe that much to our players, our fans and our community.”
--Pacers partial owner (along with his brother Mel), Herb Simon.

Evilmav2 · 11-22-2004, 02:46 AM

The following is taken from this [L=yahoo article]:

Quote:

"Harrison was hit several times in the stands while trying to break up the mayhem. He said Artest responded instinctively."

"If someone is throwing something at you with intent to harm you, you're going to defend yourself," he said. "It doesn't matter if the person is a fan or whatever. I just wonder what would happen if we went to where they work and harassed them for 48 minutes to an hour and then threw a beer at them when they were trying to leave. We'd go to jail."

Harrison worried the severity of the punishment would overshadow the fans' culpability.

"A message is going to be sent to the players, but around the league, I don't know how you send a message to the fans," Harrison said Saturday. "That's going to be the only travesty about this situation."

Things were just as scary as the Pacers left the Palace.

"There was a time at the bus where they were telling us to turn off the lights because they were afraid people would shoot at our bus," Harrison said.

Harrison dismissed the notion that because the players are paid handsomely they should be able to deal with such situations.

"We endured the verbal abuse, did we not?" he said. "We do not get paid millions of dollars to get stuff thrown at us. Nobody gets paid to money to get stuff thrown at you unless you're a circus clown sitting in a booth. That's not our job.

"I don't care how much money I'm getting paid. If you're trying to harm me, and I'm in a position to defend myself, I'm going to defend myself."

grndmstr_c · 11-22-2004, 02:48 AM

I'm sure the players and the team have every right to appeal. And if new evidence comes to light regarding the apparent sucker-punch Jermaine O'Neal threw, I'd have no problem if the NBA altered his suspension to fit the new evidence. From what I've seen, though, the guy JO punched presented no danger to anyone when JO hit him, so until I see otherwise I have very little sympathy for him or his agent.

grndmstr_c · 11-22-2004, 03:00 AM

Quote:

"I don't care how much money I'm getting paid. If you're trying to harm me, and I'm in a position to defend myself, I'm going to defend myself."

If all you're worried about is insuring that you don't come to harm, why, oh why, would you choose to charge into the stands when you're far more likely to get hurt doing that than if you simply sought out security personnel to deal with the offending fool. We have brains for a reason, people. Use them or accept the consequences of not doing so.

Arne · 11-22-2004, 07:05 AM

Bloody hell, why are you all talking like pacifists when you're talking about something like this, but acting exactly contrarily, when you're talking about politics... That just shows that haven'T got any principles...

Wiley_e · 11-22-2004, 07:50 AM

Hmmm, when i look at the Pacers homepage i see a lot of discussion going on - about what i would expect!
It's understandable if you refrain from publishing quotes from players involved in the incident, but absolutely no comment whatsoever by the Pistons' officials?
What do you make of that?

Suggestions:
- "Whew, that was a close shave!"
- "Could've been worse..."
- "Duck and cover until the storm is over..."
- "We actually didn't have to do anything with those incidents"
or is it a well advised move with a seasoned statement still to come... just not to stirr up more emotions?

slowmo · 11-22-2004, 06:29 PM

[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-disgusted.gif[/img] Well I think it is about time the nba put up nets around the floor so players cannot go into the stands and the fans cannot throw anything solid thru it. That will stop this nonsence. I have been involved in this type of situation and it is very scary. Anytime fans can come on the court in a fight or visa versa it is never going to end in a good situation. The fines were correct. Now lets see the fans go to jail for assault and inciting a riot as well. Maybe that will send a message. Next time a fight like this happens Stearn will probably kick the offenders out of the league. Enough said.