My Life and Times

November 23, 2004
Union and Pacers to Fight SuspensionsBy LIZ ROBBINS
he repercussions from the basketball brawl last week in Auburn Hills, Mich., were felt on three fronts yesterday.
In New York, the chief executive of the National Basketball Association's players union, Billy Hunter, said he intended to appeal the length of the league's suspensions of the Indiana Pacers' Ron Artest, Jermaine O'Neal and Stephen Jackson. He also said the union would request arbitration for an independent review of the commissioner's unilateral power of suspension.
In Michigan, the Auburn Hills police reported that nine people claimed they were assaulted by players during Friday's brawl in the game between the Detroit Pistons and the Pacers at the Palace of Auburn Hills. The Oakland County prosecutor said that charges were not likely to be filed for two to three weeks and that they would be no higher than misdemeanors, except possibly for a felony charge against the person who threw a chair into the crowd.
The prosecutor, David C. Gorcyca, identified the man who threw a cup filled with liquid at Artest, which spurred Artest to rush into the stands after him, as John Green, 39, of West Bloomfield Township, Mich. Gorcyca said that Green was a former neighbor of his and also said, according to The Associated Press, that footage showed that when Artest was in the stands, Green grabbed him from behind and punched him. Green, a season-ticket holder, has been barred from the Palace.
Green told reporters, however, that he did not throw the cup, The Associated Press reported.
And in Indiana, as the Pacers reeled from the loss of their top three players, management said it stood behind all of them and hoped to find a legal way to have them return sooner than allowed, under the terms of their suspensions.
"It is hard to speculate, but right now we're behind Ronnie 100 percent, and we will look at everything we possibly can to get him back in uniform as quick as possible," Larry Bird, the Pacers' president, said of Artest.
Hunter, in a telephone interview last night, said that the union appeal would be filed in 24 to 48 hours. Hunter said that Commissioner David Stern, who handed down the stiffest collective penalties in league history Sunday, overreacted, especially by suspending Artest for the rest of the season.
Jackson was suspended for 30 games and O'Neal for 25 games for fighting with fans in a melee that erupted after an on-court tussle following a hard foul by Artest on the Pistons' Ben Wallace. For shoving Artest, Wallace was suspended for six games.
"The players feel like they're being scapegoats," Hunter said. "No question that what Ron did was reprehensible. I agree with David. But had he suspended Artest until the All-Star break and required him to get anger-management counseling, then made a determination at the All-Star break, that would have been 35 games, which I think is more than ample."
Before Artest's 73-game suspension, Latrell Sprewell, then with the Golden State Warriors, served the longest non-drug-related suspension in league history, 68 games, for choking his coach, P. J. Carlesimo, after a practice. The Warriors originally had terminated Sprewell's contract for the remaining two seasons.
Sprewell went to arbitration with Stern. The arbitrator reduced the suspension to 68 games, the remainder of that season. Sprewell was able to go to arbitration only because the choking incident occurred in practice and not on the court.
According to Article XXXI, section 8 of the collective bargaining agreement, a player can appeal a suspension. Stern then must conduct a hearing, but for an on-court incident, the ultimate authority rests with the commissioner without the possibility of arbitration.
Stern said Sunday that what Artest did was unforgivable.
But Hunter strenuously objected to Stern's sweeping powers in the current bargaining agreement .
"I contend that he does not have unfettered, unreviewable authority, that he is subject to review by an arbitrator," Hunter said.
Hunter said that he would most likely pursue an independent review of the brawl, with the aim of reassessing Stern's rulings, by going to United States District Court.
The precedent favors the league, however. In 1997, when the players union tried to block the playoff suspensions of Knicks players arising from a fight with the Miami Heat, Judge Jed S. Rakoff ruled that Stern had the ultimate authority.
In an interview with People magazine published yesterday, Artest said: "I just wish the situation hadn't turned out the way it turned out. I hope some of the Detroit fans I was interacting with before the game could come to my defense.''
The Pacers, already short-handed because of injuries, are allowed to pursue temporary avenues to add players to the roster, but they are restricted to signing free agents at a minimum salary. O'Neal, the Pacers' All-Star forward, issued a statement yesterday through his agent, Arn Tellem, pointing to an issue of self-defense, saying: "I apologize for the events of last Friday. Like everyone, as I watched from the court, I was distressed and shocked to see the situation spiral out of control. When a number of belligerent fans began to charge onto the court, and it was clear that there was no security in place, I feared for my own safety and for the safety of my teammates. I regret what happened last Friday, and I promise to work as hard as I can to help restore respect for N.B.A. basketball."
But Gorcyca, the Oakland County prosecutor, said in at a news conference yesterday that Artest was not acting in self-defense. "Even if someone throws a cup," Gorcyca said, that does not justify Artest's actions. "He can claim self-defense, but again, that video will speak for itself."
The chief of police for Auburn Hills, Dorren Olko, asked for assistance in identifying the person who threw a chair, sending out a news release describing him as an "African-American male who appears to be in his late 20's to early 30's."
Jeremy W. Peters contributed reporting from Auburn Hills, Mich., for this article, and Dick Cassin from Indianapolis.
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