Fourteen months ago Ron Artest of the NBA's Indiana Pacers went into the stands to confront a fan who had thrown a soda onto the court. He was given the heaviest suspension in NBA history. He was suspended - without pay - for the rest of that season. This amounted to about $5 million. A number of other players were also suspended for various periods of time for the same incident. At the time, NBA Commissioner David Stern said: "The line is drawn, and my guess is that won't happen again -- certainly not by anybody who wants to be associated with our league."
Antonio Davis last night
Last night the New York Knicks' Antonio Davis went into the stands because he believed his wife was in some danger from an out-of-control fan. Obviously there are many different versions of what actually happened in the stands before Davis crossed the line. It's not clear at what point the arena security entered the picture and some reports lead one to believe that Davis' wife may have provoked the confrontation.
As of this writing Commissioner Stern has not yet made a decision about Davis' punishment. Most sports commentators agree that there must be a suspension, but there seems to be disagreement as to how severe it should be. Most people who comment on sports are men and most of them say, "If it were me, I would have done the same thing to protect my family."
That may be the case, but I firmly believe that the punishment must be strong enough to reiterate the point that Stern made after the Artest incident. Although, in a statement Davis released today he says that there wasn't enough time to call security, I'm not at all sure that that was the case. It is, in fact, their job, his job is to stay on the court.
If there was a danger (real or imagined) to his wife when he got there, what would he have done? If he puts one hand on the fan, he sets himself, the Knicks, the NBA and the Bulls organization up for major law suits; not to mention, a possible assault rap. Security is officially able to handle such situations.
In addition to the above problems raised by a player (any player) going into the stands, what would have happened if other fans decided to join the fray on either side - a riot?
The simple fact is that in every sport, the athletes have to stay on the court and the fans in the stands. Anything else is an invitation to disaster. The punishment must reflect - not the particular person - but the act.
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