Violence in the NBA Essay Example for Free

Violence in the NBA Essay Violence in the NBA is spontaneous as well as erroneous. Due to its competitive and physical style of play, players usually get involved in altercations which eventually lead to a free-for-all brawl which is unbecoming of a sport that is known to produce gentlemen of finesse and prestige on and off the court. Each ruckus is always in focus of the meticulous and keen eyes of the media as well as the public. Arguably, it is reflective of what the sport of basketball wants young fans to emulate without the violence of course. Yet violence within the league is rampant amidst the guide of game officials, which are always on the forefront of any untoward incident that tends to spoil the spontaneity and momentum of the game. Due to the spontaneity that is in the nature of the sport, nobody can predict may it be a fan or a referee whenever an imminent brawl is about to take place. Some basketball analysts say that this aspect of the game is what draws fans from all walks of life to the game itself. Violence is exciting as much as athleticism is. Thus, making the sport of basketball a game where masculinity is exemplified and where violence is considered a norm. Players display fits of anger and sparks fly which sometimes involve irate fans. In most recent memory, â€Å"basketbrawls† were instigated by young and raw players which are considered the future of the NBA. Basketball is more than a game of brawns. It is a sport that is fueled by strong emotions that lead to spontaneous violence. Basketball Officiating: Boon or Bust? Being a referee in the NBA is not â€Å"a walk in the park† job at all. Referees are expected to have a rational and sound judgment in every call they make. Each decision of a referee is a crucial part of his job and whenever he makes a call or decision, not only players will react but fans will retaliate in every call as well. Referees are not highly considered to have a vital role in the NBA yet they act as a shock absorber in every loophole that the game has. They are always lambasted by players and fans alike yet they are there to stabilize the pace of the game and performing the task of mandating the rules of the game. Some might say that they are simply doing their job for the betterment of the game but recently there has been an official that was involved in a gambling issue over at Las Vegas. With this in mind, some fans have really lost their complete trust on referees. And fans don’t really care about referees or game officiating at all, fans flock the arenas to watch their home team win and not to be victimized by mediocre officiating. Fans have meticulous and keen eyes when it comes to bad calls as much as referees are also sharp on making calls on players. However, some decisions made by a referee are not favorable to a home team which creates a ruckus among the fans, this happens whenever a call is made and fans don’t like it which results to an unpleasant feedback among the fans. At some instances, fans sometimes instigate â€Å"basketbrawls† and before the referees know it some guy has a fist on his face already. This creates a self-defeating image for the NBA. Remember that this is not ice hockey or football where athletes wear protective gears that will protect them from imminent injuries that result from abrupt and unexpected altercations during the game. An example of â€Å"bad† officiating happened recently when rookie Al Horford of the Atlanta Hawks unintentionally hit Toronto Raptors guard T. J. Ford when the latter was driving towards the basket. This created an eclectic plethora of feedbacks around the league. For the fact that Ford has been hampered with injuries since he entered the league which some experts say that Horford’s foul wasn’t intentional yet it was made one because Ford is frail and has a history of serious injuries. Now, this is not objective officiating per se, Basketball is a contact sport and it’s a reality as well as a conviction that is shared by players. Reputation and a player’s salary is always at stake in every call a referee makes. Though Horford was fined and suspended for a couple of games, the Atlanta Hawks rookie showed sportsmanship by visiting and attending to Ford at the hospital, a deed of a suspended player which does not usually happen and simply shows how some kids in the NBA show class and finesse which is good for the image of the league. Hoopsworld. com correspondent Jason Fleming has this to say about the incident: â€Å"But does anyone out there think Horford intentionally tried to hurt Ford? He felt horrible about it after it happened and even went to the hospital to spend time with Ford in Atlanta. He explained the foul, too, to anyone who would listen after that game on Tuesday. † (Fleming, J. 2007. p. 1) When it happened with a minute and a half left, we were still down by eight [92-84], Horford said. He got the steal. I just tried to go and block the shot. When he went up, I went up too. He tried to use the rim and I thought he was going to stay on [one] side so I went up and tried to hit the ball and I hit his head. † (Fleming, J. 2007. p. 1) He just made a good move and fooled me. Horford said. (Fleming,J. 2007. p. 1) â€Å"That quote has been seen repeatedly. And, if you ask the Raptors, they also wont say it was intentional. Heck, even T. J. Ford understands it wasnt intentional. † (Fleming,J. 2007. p. 1) It wasnt a dirty play at all, Ford said. I think I just kind of tricked him with the move and he got caught in a bad spot. Hes a good kid. I told him Im not holding anything against him. (Fleming, J. 2007. p. 1) â€Å"During those hours in the hospital, where Horford talked to Ford, it was Ford picking up Horford. I know that Horford feels awful about it, Colangelo said. He spent a couple of hours at the hospital with (T. J. ) last night and, true to T. J. s form, he was probably doing more of the consoling. I think the kid (Horford) was pretty shaken up about it. He felt awful. I dont think there was any intention to do harm. (Fleming, J. 2007. p. 1). â€Å"So, with these multiple accounts of no intent of harm on the record, again, why did Al Horford receive a one-game suspension? Is it because of how bad it looked? Is it because of the fragility of Ford given his past issues with his neck and spine? Is it because this could have been much worse than it was? Honestly though, thats going to be true going forward too. No matter what anyone says, basketball is a contact sport. Sure, contact is regulated by the calling of personal fouls, but players get fooled all the time. To be real clear here, this is no different than a player going for a steal on a dribble and accidentally hitting the player with the ball in the groin. It happens. Fouls are called. Basketball moves on. Sometimes players have to leave games with injuries. † (Fleming, J. 2007. p. 1). Basketball Fans versus Athletes Basketball is inherently a physical and competitive sport. Suffice to say that the sport exudes hints of violence due to the physical nature of the game. Yet sometimes the physicality of the game goes overboard and results to chaotic brawls which include players and fans alike. At some instances, these spectators are usually the linchpin to instigate basketbrawls. The heat of the game overwhelms everyone in the stadium and before you know it beer bottles, stadium paraphernalia and other objects are being thrown at the arena and add more tension in an already brewing commotion among players. There are numerous instances that players are overwhelmed by their emotions and retaliation is always imminent on the part of these players. We have to consider that due to the competitive nature of the game, these athletes have high testosterone levels that result in extraordinary aggressive behavior. Which leads us to a behavioral disorder called Intermittent Explosive Behavior which is imminent in these athletes. Intermittent explosive behavior is described as a disorder as having extreme expressions of anger and uncontrollable rage which is inappropriate to a certain situation. George Orwell, author of the book Shooting an Elephant: The Sporting Spirit has this observation about the role violence plays in every sport aside from basketball: Serious sport has nothing to do with fair play. It is bound up with hatred, jealousy, boastfulness, disregard of all rules and sadistic pleasure in witnessing violence: in other words it is war minus the shooting. (Orwell. 1950. ). This quote tells us that no sport has an inherent sense of fair play. And every sport is fueled by athleticism and sportsmanship camouflaged by arrogance as well as a certain sadistic nature in terms of watching it for the sake of the gratification brought about by violence. In the NBA, there are numerous basketbrawls but nothing compares to the infamous Pistons-Pacers brawl that happened on November 19, 2004 at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Michigan, The incident that is better known as â€Å"The Malice at the Palace† sparked a myriad of negative feedbacks from the media to the public. This was arguably the most notorious basketball incident in recent memory since the â€Å"Bad Boy Days† of the Detroit Pistons of the late 80’s. The incident generated repercussions throughout the league and legal authorities as well. The incident involved Indiana forward Ron Artest and Detroit center Ben Walllace. Wallace was on his way for a fastbreak lay-up when Artest abruptly grabbed the former with his two arms causing Wallace to fall in an awkward manner. Wallace then retaliated by shoving Artest causing the latter to almost hit the bench. After this, chaos followed and players from both teams left the bench to join the fray and Piston fans joined the ruckus as well. Punches were thrown be it player against player or player against spectator. It was an embarrassing moment for the NBA and generated speculations about the conduct of players in the league. Each player in the NBA was placed under public scrutiny and is considered responsible for each deed he commits on the court as well as off the court. Sadly, media attention focused on Ron Artest which was suspended for a season, there was a debate regarding Artest rushing to the stands to hit a fan who threw a cup of beer on him, commentators said that it was not a valid excuse to rush to the stands and retaliates in order to hit the fan. The media heavily blamed the players for instigating the melee which was a huge upset for the entire league. Speculations of hooliganism in the league were fueled by the incident and Piston fans were placed in close public scrutiny. The Pistons had defeated the Pacers in a tight Eastern Conference Finals series five months prior to the incident, which eventually paved the way to their first championship since the Bad Boys Era. The game on November 19 was televised nationally on ESPN as well as locally on select Michigan television stations including Detroits NBC affiliate WDIV-TV (Channel 4) and statewide across Indiana through the Central Indiana bureau of FSN Midwest (which was later spun off to FSN Indiana), would be the first rematch between the two rivals since the Eastern Conference Finals. And emotions found its way to run high on either team (Wikipedia Pistons-Pacers Brawl. 2004. p. 1). Let us take a closer look on what transpired after the infamous incident: Players and spectators who were part of the incident are deemed to be subjected to criminal charges and will be thoroughly investigated by The Auburn Hills Police Department as well as the Oakland County Prosecutors Office. Two spectators filed and claimed monetary damages. The final legal actions of the incident for those involved may take months to determine (Wikipedia Pistons-Pacers Brawl. 2004. p. 1). â€Å"On November 30, Oakland County Prosecutor David Gorcyca announced that he will seek charges against all players involved in the melee. † â€Å"Whoever was involved in fisticuffs will be charged, regardless if they were wearing a jersey. Its obvious there were several Pacer players and fans that dealt blows. †(Wikipedia Pistons-Pacers Brawl. 2004. p. 1). When Basketball Rears its Ugly Head Players are always at risk whenever they display unruly behavior on the court yet most players dont really care about the consequences that will be brought about by such behavior. Players dont really care about consequent suspensions as well as fines for their misconduct. Players are not really concerned that they are being watched by people around the world and each action they make is a mirror image of the NBA. These athletes are only there to perform their best because that what they are paid for and does not really mind if they are playing â€Å"prison rules† basketball in a prestigious league such as the NBA. What is surprising about the violence which is apparent in the NBA is that people couldnt care less about it. Arguably, NBA afficionados are used to the competitive and physical style of play wherein players thrive upon. And whats contradicting is that these players are deemed responsible for their actions on the court yet sometimes they themselves enjoy a little fistfight once in awhile. Since the incident in Detroit which was called â€Å"The Malice at the Palace†, some basketball analysts bluffed that having a resident psychiatrist in every team in the NBA will help each player as much as a physical condition trainer helps a player with regards to physical health, so why not consider mental health as well? One of the most penalized game altercations after the infamous Pistons-Pacers brawl would be the Knicks-Nuggets brawl which happened on December 16, 2006 which resulted to the suspension of seven players from both teams and a fine of $500,000 dollars each. The fine was arguably stiff due to the fact that Commissioner Davide Stern was trying polish the leagues image since the Pistons-Pacers brawl. The altercation started when Denver guard J. R. Smith was on a fastbreak and was about to dunk when suddenly New York rookie Mardy Collins strangled him when he the former was in mid-air causing Smith to fall hard on the floor. New York guard Nate Robinson rushed to them then pushed Smith in order to break the fight. The three players were surrounded by the team mates and officials who were trying to restrain the altercation. Yet this didnt help restrain the imminent on-court fight which was further escalated when Denver forward Carmelo Anthony strangled Robinson. At this time, New York forward David Lee was holding back Smith but the latter broke free and tackled Robinson then slammed Smith on the courtside resulting spectators and media to depart from the scene. Again, chaos overwhelmed the hardwood and more fighting followed. More pushing and shoving followed as well then eventually cooler heads prevailed and order was restored. Yet the seemingly restrained fight was inflamed again when Anthony made a cheap shot on Collins, The Nuggets star sucker-punched the Knicks rookie which had Knicks players chasing after him while he was leaving the court (Wikipedia Knicks-Nuggets Brawl. 2006. p. 1) The media has speculated that Knicks General Manager and Head Coach was the main culprit for the brawl which generated the notion that was Thomas dire attempt to revive the physical and rough brand of play which was reminiscent of the Detroit Pistons â€Å"Bad Boys Era† for him to inspire his team and give them the confidence boost they need in order to overwhelm a sense of inferiority against upper echelon teams. Criticisms surfaced as well due to the fact that Commissioner Stern didnt hand Thomas a suspension for his verbal provocation on Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony, telling the latter not to enter the paint which suggested that the Knicks were planning mayhem right at the start of the game itself. Denver Head Coach George Karl said that this was a mediocre attempt on insulting his friendship with former Knick coach Larry Brown who was fired by Thomas and had a tumultuous relationship with after Browns departure from New York (Wikipedia Knicks-Nuggets Brawl. 2006. p. 1) George Karl was furious the next day and made a harsh comment on Thomas saying: â€Å" Thomas made a bad situation worse. Hes a jerk for what hes trying to do. My team has blown 10-point leads, 11-point leads with two minutes to go. I watched Utah blow a 12-point lead to Sacramento two nights before that with four minutes to go in the game and youre telling me that Im running the score up? Hes an asshole † (Karl. 2006) The comments made by Carl was scrutinized and criticized by media men speculating a brewing bad blood between Carl and Thomas which dates to Thomas firing of Larry Brown who happens to be a close friend of the Nuggets mentor (Truehoop. com. 2006. p. 1) With this in mind, violence in the NBA does not start from players alone. One cannot help on being skeptic on how coaches think and manipulate their players. In the aftermath of this Knicks-Nuggets brawl, speculations on coaches surfaced on how they motivate as well as manipulate their players. Specially players who are raw and new to the league. Prior to this incident, New York Knicks GM and Head Coach Isiah Thomas was being accused already to display provocative tactics as well as unruly behavior among these are: ? The pre-season game versus New Jersey Nets on October 27 was glimpse of things to come. Thomas confronted Nets assistant coach Tom Barisse after a potential on-court brawl that resulted from a hard play which involved a Nets player and three Knicks players. Nets head coach Lawrence Frank didnt acknowledge or responded to the bickerings of Thomas. Thomas exclaimed that: The better teams dont like when the teams on the bottom give them a hard time Sometimes they get a little upset with that. We have to give them a hard time and I hope they dont take it personally. (Thomas. 2006) ? In a game against the San Antonio Spurs on November 11, Thomas appeared to instigate a fight against Spurs forward Bruce Bowen, which Bowen accused Thomas of yelling at his players to â€Å"break his foot! † In retaliation how Bowen used his legs on when Knicks guard was attempting a jumpshot. Other than that, Thomas started shouting match against Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich. Thomas said: I was trying to stoke a little fire. We were playing three games in four nights against a pretty tough opponent in a getaway game. We were almost ready to pack our bags. (Thomas. 2006. p. 1). He later mentioned his Bad Boys Era in Detroit and exclaimed that if ever someone tried that on him, â€Å"I would murder him† (Thomas. 2006. p. 1) Thomas actions and innuendos were unbecoming of a hall of famer and a team general manager. This lead to a bevy of feedbacks about his conduct not only as a team official but a person as well. Perhaps this was a result of the job pressure he was receiving from the media and fans who wanted him out in New York. Thomas was considered to bring the unfavorable atmosphere in Madison Square Garden. Final Analysis The imminent violence that thrives in the NBA will always be part of the game. People have to accept the fact that every sport will be dealt with the consequent physicality and relative competitiveness that is a crucial part of every sport that is played. The NBA should do its part in assessing each brawl accordingly so as to be fair to the players. Players have should be responsible for their actions on court and off court as well. Its a good thing that the league has started having a dress code in order to polish the image of its players. Yet it doesnt end there and players should always carry with them a sense of sound conduct amidst the strong emotions that is always at play during games. Sportsman-like rivalry coupled with a sense of camaraderie will always overwhelm the hint the ugly notion of prison rules basketball. But players will always be true to their game which comes along with their passion for the game that makes the notion of violence a norm in each game played. References Fleming, J. 2007. Horford’s Suspension Unfair. p. 1. Retrieved December 13,2007 from Hoopsworld. com Levesque, J. 2004. Violence part of NBAs history. Retrieved November 23,2004 from Seattlepi. com Celizic,M. 2004. Fans as much to blame as players. Retrieved November 22,2004 from MSNBC. com Wikipedia. 2007. Violence in Sports. Retrieved December 20,2007 from Wikipedia. com Wikipedia. 2007. Pistons-Pacers Brawl. Retrieved December 22,2007 from Wikipedia. com Wikipedia. 2007. Knicks-Nuggets Brawl. Retrieved December 26,2007 from Wikipedia. com ESPN News Services. 2007. Raptors guard Ford injured after flagrant foul in victory. Retrieved December 11,2007 from ESPN. com Orwell, G. 1950. The Sporting Spirit, Shooting an Elephant. p. 153 New York: Harcourt, Brace, Co.