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mythfaze
Posts: 20955
Alba Posts: 0
Joined: 9/3/2001
Member: #106
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With David Stern in Phoenix yesterday to announce that the Suns would host the 2009 NBA All-Star Game, local reporters grilled him during the press conference about the one-game suspensions Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw earned for leaving the bench during last year's playoffs. Stern, of course, defended the rule, saying it was clear-cut and re-enforced to the players repeatedly.
But while doing so, he also revealed something else: given the uproar the followed the suspensions, it seems he, too, questioned whether the rule was fair, since he asked the competition committee during the summer if they felt it needed to be re-visited. From the Arizona Republic:
"I put the issue squarely to our competition committee and the players who played at the meeting said that I had lost my mind for even raising the issue. "They said, 'When you're out there, you just don't know. It's a scary place to be and when people come at you, you're liable to do almost anything.' ... That was what Hall of Famers were telling me. I was trying to be fair, as there was some suggestion that the rule needed to be modified. I said, 'Guys, talk to me.' And they said, 'Shut up and go on to the next subject.' "
So there we have it: this isn't just one man's power-hungry quest to control every player, this is a measure of safety endorsed by ol' timers who actually played the game. While the events surrounding Stoudemire and Diaw's suspension were unfortunate, I actually agreed with the implementation of the rule. It really is cut-and-dry, and having a zero tolerance policy removes any chance of subjective policing of offenders.
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