NBA player Antonio Davis has been suspended for 5 games, worth $700,000, all because he went to his wife’s defense from a (now claiming to be sober) drunken fan.
I, for one, respect him for going to the defense of his wife. I think the NBA shouldn’t take a knee jerk reaction, and take this one as a case-by-case situation where it’s understandable why he did what he did.
I’m a bit torn on this one. I totally respect his decision to go up there to get his wife’s back. OTOH, I don’t want players to think the stands are a place they can go without repercussions, so some level of punishment beyond the game ejection is necessary. Part of making a decision like this is to agree to accept the punishment you know you will get. He’s appealed the decision, which they pretty much always do, and might get a game or two dropped, but I think he will accept whatever the final punishment without too much grousing about it.
He’s known as a respectable and decent guy, which I’m sure went a long way to keep the punishment as low as it was. Some people have been calling for punishments of 20 or more games, which seems outrageous to me.
I disagree: by putting himself in the stands he puts himself, and by proxy the NBA, in an untenable position, should anything bad come to pass. What if the allegedly drunk fan takes a swing at him? Is he still going to stand there? What if an innocent bystander is hurt in the resulting fracas?
The NBA was right to take some action. Fans shouldn’t be on the court and players shouldn’t be in the stands.
I don’t think it is foolish to say what Nursecarmen did – I can see the point and respect it.
But Daniels couldn’t tell what was going on, his presence turned out to calm the situation. It could easily, very easily, have turned ugly in a number of ways and thrown gas on the fire.
Also, the NBA doing doing nothing means the next time a Player feels like flying into the stands – maybe to get endless play on Sportscenter or going after that A$$hole talking about his Mom or kids, he just needs to say “I felt that my Wife/GF/Mom was threatened” and off he goes. I am not calling AD a liar – but something like that is being alleged here in a 1 million dollar slander suit.
In the Final Game of the NFL regular season Clinton Portis’ Mom got into it with Philadelphia fans. The Redskins brought her onto the field and she left with the Team. The Knicks should have a similar plan especially for away games.
He shouldn’t be punished, because living with the nutcase that is his wife is enough. She seems like a freak.
When she was getting in the face of, and touching, the guy behind her, I wanted that guy to drop her as$.
She has been in other fan-related altercations. Unfortunately, she probably can’t stand fans who are mean to her rich hubby, so she gets all up in there face.
He deserved Punishment.
I am happy he went to defend his wife and he caused no problems but the NBA has a major rule not to go into the stands and it is a good rule.
He should understand that going into the stands will bring punishment.
Hopefully the NBA will work on better seating arrangements for family after this incident, but Davis broke a rule that needs to be upheld.
Jim
Have you seen any replays of the incident on ESPN? They actually had a camera right in close. The footage they have shows Kendra Davis standing up, pointing, getting in the guy’s face, and yelling at him. He doesn’t look drunk or belligerent, and at one point it looks like he’s trying to contact security. He said he told her, perhaps repeatedly and apparently with some cursing, to sit down. Granted that that wasn’t the entire chain of events, but I’m not convinced he was at fault. Maybe he could’ve been kinder, but if it’s something he asked her repeatedly during the game - well, have you ever told someone at a concert or game to sit down more than once? If they keep doing it and blocking your view, you lose patience fast. There’s no evidence at the moment that he was actually a threat to her. Of course, the fan was also super-quick to get a lawyer and sue the Davises for $1 million a pop. That’s not going to make anybody trust him more.
I think what happened was basically right. Davis deserved a milder punishment than the standard because, even if nobody was really endangering his wife, he seems to have thought there was a problem and that something bad could happen any moment. And that’s what he got; normally the suspension would have been bigger. Players still need to be discouraged from going into the stands for the reasons already given: it’s bad for the spectators and the game, and worst of all, it could cause a confrontation or a fight even if the player’s purpose is to stop one. They have no way of knowing what any of the fans they run past could do.
Last I saw he said he’d drop the suit in exchange for an apology. Most likely he had some lawyers contacting him, not vice versa.
Maybe the right move would have been for the NBA to come down with a harsh fine and suspension of the wife.
I totally disagree. I think he should have gotten more than 5 games for this, probably 10 or more. As everything happened it turned out to be a non-event. However, things could have gotten so much worse had anything else happened. If Davis stays put the worst case scenario is that his wife gets into a physical altercation and security deals with it. Fights happen at events like this often enough. The odds of anything escalating even it if had become a fight are slim.
If anything else happens with Davis in the stands it’s almost a certainty that this becomes a seriously dangerous situation. If someone slips and bumps into Davis he could have overreated as a result of the tenuous situation after Detroit. Had he had to physically intervene it’s likely his teammates would have entered the stands as well. From this point, with charged and powerful athletes in a situation which they feel is a hostile environment any level of conflict is possible.
All it would have taken is a thrown beer, a accidental stumble, a fan unaware of the situation thinking Davis is headed for him, anything and this instantly develops into a chaotic and dangerous situation. With Davis entering the stand and an altercation occuring it’s reasonable to fear that a stampede of fans could ensue. Panic after what happened in Detroit is not a unreasonable concern.
What Davis did is the equivalent of brandishing a gun to settle a matter of chivalry. It’s as if someone insulted his wife and he pulled a gun on them. Yeah, no one got shot and the situation was settled calmly. But still, the situation was briefly made exceptionally dangerous.
I respect anyone who tries to defend their loved ones. I think it’s clear that the man’s wife was actually at fault here, but that’s all a moot point. He however created such an extremely dangerous situation that the “noble” spirit of his actions should not mitigate the punishment at all.
Incidentally, Davis’ action did not calm things here! Watching the video it’s clear that the fan was seeking out security and the conflict was not escalating. Davis entering the stands drew more fans to the scene, had people jumping out of their seats and had the cameras and media focusing on it days afterwards. In no way shape or form did his presense calm things.
Davis says he won’t apologize (I wouldn’t be surprised if a lawyer told him apologizing would be a bad idea), so “suit on,” I guess.
Maybe they should, but that doesn’t completely clear Antonio either.
Davis was wrong to go into the stands, and he deserves SOME kind of punishment. That said, I’m not angry at him and don’t condemn him.
I can’t blame Antonio Davis for what he did. Moreover, to his credit, he didn’t go charging into the stands with his fists clenched, ready to pummel someone. He was trying to look out for his family, and I commend him for that.
Nonetheless, I think a punishment of some kind is called for. A one game suspension and the minimum league fine would satisfy my sense of justice.