David Stern opens up about the Metta World Peace suspension – NBA Update
NBA Commissioner David Stern, in a press conference on Wednesday, elaborated about all the things he had to take into account while contemplating on the severity of the punishment after such a gruesome incident.
Stern slapped the player in question, Metta World Peace of the Los Angeles Lakers with a 7 game suspension after he elbowed James Harden in the Lakers last meeting with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
"It's really very serious stuff and it does take in account the fact that the perpetrator is who he is and has the record that he has, and this called for in our view a very stiff penalty and we think that seven games, which only
includes one regular-season game, is such a stiff penalty." - Stern
Many pundits of the game say that the penalty is too harsh while others still maintain that the penalty is lenient. However, Stern has a valid point of taking everything into consideration while issuing the punishment for such
reckless actions.
Metta World Peace who was formerly known as Ron Artest has been known to be reckless on more than a few occasions in his NBA Career. Metta was previously suspended for 82 games for an on court incident which involved him and several
other players from the Indiana Pacers getting into a brawl with Detroit Pistons fan.
Since his arrival with the Lakers, even though he has been known as a very aggressive person, Metta has shown signs of improvement but as they say, you can’t hide your true nature. It does seem to portray World-Peace perfectly.
With the players history in mind, Stern is not buying Metta`s explanation of not knowing where Harden was on the court.
"I believe that it was recklessly thrown and I believe that in looking at the replays again and again that he should have known that James was up against him, and some would argue that he had to have known," --Stern said.
We all know that players get emotional in big games and are bound to get physical at one point of the matchup. However, getting so severely aggressive cannot be justified by any kind of explanation. Even though Metta admits that
he threw a reckless elbow, he still remains adamant of the fact that the particular incident was out of high emotion rather than anger.
As the current situation stands, the ban is taking effect immediately which rules World Peace out for the Lakers last season game and possibly the whole of first round of the playoffs. It does seem as a fair punishment considering
the situation and severity of it as normally a player would not get suspended for seven game for only throwing the elbow.
However Stern may have done what was exactly required of him and has ruled on a justifiable punishment.
Harden has been cleared to play, However the Thunder management decided to give him some extra time off before the start of the playoffs as he did not participate in their last game of the season.
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