Here’s the video.
It’s so over the top flagrant you have to wonder if it really was just an accident.
Accident or deliberate?
Deliberate.
It happened fast, but yeah, it’s hard to believe he didn’t know Harden was there since they bumped before he threw the elbow. It’s disappointing since he’s generally improved his behavior over the last couple of years and tried to get his craziness under control, but he deserves the suspension.
Seems pretty hard to argue that it was anything but deliberate. How Ron … Ummmm Metta couldn’t know Harden was there when Harden was rubbing up against him is beyond me…
Deliberate.
I had actually just turned that game on when he was dunking the ball just prior to the elbow. They must have replayed it at least 2 dozen times in a row. There was clearly a windup and follow-through. He knew exactly what he was doing.
I don’t know that he was deliberately aiming for his head but he definitely swung hard towards where he knew Harden was. I am a long time Laker fan and I think that he should be out for the rest of the season and the first playoff series at least.
He’s been suspended for seven games. That’ll be the last game of the regular season and up to the first six of the playoffs- or the first games of next season if the Lakers crash and burn.
Thanks. I wasn’t aware that a decision was made. It looks like he got pretty much the minimum of what I thought he deserved.
It seems like a reasonable amount to me, but I didn’t have a firm opinion on what he deserved. Here’s the ESPN story about the suspension. It was announced just this evening.
Definitely hit him on purpose; I suppose it’s possible he didn’t mean to hit him quite so hard, but that’s no excuse.
This is such a brilliant defense, I’d love to see Artest appeal with this strategy. “Mr. Commissioner, the hit was so *obviously *deliberate that it couldn’t possibly have been deliberate! Chewbacca lives on Endor!”
Deliberate. I’ve never seen a foul so flagrant. I’m glad he got suspended.
His suspension should be from now until 7 games AFTER Harden comes back to play. The victim here may end up missing as much time as MWP, which seems pretty unfair.
It was definitely deliberate.
It was NOT an accident.
James Harden did NOT provoke it.
This was just Ron Artest being Ron Artest. He probably didn’t intend to cause a serious injury, but he did. He deserved a longer suspension than he got. As it is, he’ll only miss the first playoff series against a weak opponent that the Lakers will clobber anyway.
Try raising your arm up and swinging your elbow at that level… it is uncomfortable, unorthodox, and irregular… the only defense I could imagine would be “I sensed he was there so I raised my elbow at the last second to avoid hitting him, and ended up hitting him in the head instead”… however, this would only be accurate and valid had he actually seemed to care at the time… I would think that Artest had to feel his elbow hitting something hard (e.g., not body tissue, but bone) but he continued down the court doing whatever he was doing/displaying/celebrating… were it an accident, I would think he would have been immediately surprised that he contacted bone/skull, stopped whatever he was doing, showed some compassion, and actually turned around to see of Harden was ok.
In short: deliberate.
deliberate
Artest is a creep. Always has been.
First of all, I agree that it was deliberate and he probably deserves even harsher punishment.
I think the best way to describe what you’re trying to say is that it was *physically *deliberate, but it was *mentally *unintentional. And an even better way of describing that, is that he simply has some self-control issues.
When I first saw the clip, I thought it could be accidental. When I saw it in slow motion, it sure looked deliberate.
Deliberate, especially since he didn’t even react like “Oh crap, my bad” after he had done it.
That’s putting it mildly. After some more thought, I’d say the elbow was definitely intentional but it’s possible he didn’t intend to hit Harden in the head. I don’t think that matters in determining the suspension, though.
I agree. Flagrant and deliberate.