This was supposed to be one of the best seasons for the NBA. Scoring had gone up, games were more exciting and there seemed to be some parity in the league. For the first time in a while, there seemed to be no clear favorite to win the championship this season especially with Shaquille O’Neal’s move from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Miami Heat. Everything seemed to be going rather well for the NBA until the 2004/2005 NBA season took a hit with a Ron Artest induced brawl at Detroit.

Artest has been suspended for the rest of the season, and his fellow teammates involved in the fracas are serving varying lengths of suspensions. Artest stands to loose over $5 million this season. His season-ending suspension has been described as too harsh by some NBA analysts while others have argued that the punishment was too lenient. Some have played the race card stating the punishment was racially motivated, because Artest attacked a white fan.

This argument is totally absurd. Any player that causes such a brawl would definitely get punished. However, the length of the punishment in this case has a lot to do with Ron Artest.

The fine on Artest was not consistent with other fines placed on other players who wrecked more havoc than Artest. I believe that Ron Artest is being punished more for his other acts, like trying to promote a CD during the season, than for his role in the Detroit brawl. Jermaine O’Neal and Stephen Jackson were suspended for just 25 and 30 games respectively after showing the rest of the world that they forfeited bright boxing careers for the NBA. Did Artest do anything more than O’Neal or Jackson? No, he did not. As a matter of fact O’Neal and Jackson landed more haymakers than Artest threw throughout the fracas. Unlike Jackson or O’Neal, Artest never threw a punch until he was physically attacked. He did not run around the arena looking for a fan to sucker-punch like O’Neal. Yet, Artest is the only one suspended for the entire season.

Artest’s only wrongdoing was that he ran into the stand after being pelted with a cup of beer. While in the stand, he did not hit the fan he suspected had thrown the cup, rather he asked the fan if he was the one who threw the cup. All would probably have gone well, but it did not. The fan guilty of throwing the beer grabbed Artest from behind and started punching him at the back of the head. At this time Jackson was already at the scene, busy throwing punches at any fan in site, showing he might have been a better boxer than a basketball player. O’Neal was caught on tape throwing an overhead right at the head of a defenseless fan on the court. Artest never asked his teammates to become barbarians, but he’s gone for the season.

It was sad to note that the Detroit Pistons Organization did not have adequate security in the arena. The players virtually had to fight their way off the court. In all of this, the Pistons organization was not reprimanded. The Pistons organization furnishes felons with season tickets but cannot afford to have adequate security to police their unruly fans. The NBA simply overlooked the security situation in Detroit.

I strongly oppose the season ending suspension of Ron Artest because it is obviously one-sided. There is no difference in the wrongs committed by Artest, Jackson or O’Neal. Yet, their fines are not the same. In all fairness, their fines should be about the same – either all are out for the season or suspended for about 30 games each. NBA chairman, David Stein, can talk all he wants to, it is obvious Jermaine O’Neal is not gone for the entire season based on his marketing value or TV-rating. O’Neal should be available for the playoffs to help the NBA’s TV ratings.

The NBA happily used Artest as the scapegoat – suspend him for the rest of the season so it seems as though some action was taken. Nothing was done about the sloppy security at Detroit, in fact that issue never came up. It is obvious that no matter which fan is getting pummeled to death, or what player looses his entire salary, the NBA keeps its eyes on its profits. After all, it’s all about the Benjamin’s. Isn’t it?

Idahosa Osaretin is a junior in computer and electrical engineering. He can be reached for comment at [email protected].