I don't want to hear from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver when the second edition of Malice at the Palace occurs. The league could have been proactive and avoided the need for press conferences, public statements, suspensions, or fines. The NBA and its owners have set back and allowed fans to do and say whatever they please to players, and luckily enough, on Sunday in Dallas, cooler heads prevailed when Chris Paul's mom and wife were attacked.
It's fine for players to say stuff to the fans, but fans can put it in the hands of their families. The former president of the NBA player's association was angry because his kids had to watch as their mother was pushed and their grandmother held her on Mother's Day.
The league and these franchises do nothing but ban the fans or make meaningless statements after the damage has been done.
Here is the statement from the Mavericks.
“The Dallas Mavericks are aware of an incident between a fan and the family of Chris Paul. It was unacceptable behavior and will not be tolerated. The Mavericks, along with American Airlines Center, swiftly removed the fan from today’s game.” the team wrote.
This isn't good enough.
The original Malice at the Palace took place in 2004.
The fans.
Why do the Utah Jazz have a bad reputation when it comes to how opposing players are treated in their arena?
The fans.
Who was at fault when players like Irving, Young, and Quickley got spat on, had popcorn dumped on them, or had bottles thrown at them?
The fans.
The same league in which animal protestors were able to disrupt three of the Minnesota Timberwolves games a few weeks ago by trying to glue their hands to the court, chaining themselves to the basket stanchion, and attempting to run on the court is currently playing. The NBA allows this stuff to happen at games. If the league wanted to stop this, it would. Where are the fines for fans who cross the line? Where are the people arrested? When athletes do something wrong, their names and background information are put on blast.
It feels like the solution is an easy one, but never the one that is chosen. If a player or his family is harassed by fans at a game, the home team should be given a technical foul and lose possession. The people in the arena would start policing themselves if Mavericks fans had to watch their team get a tech, followed by the Suns getting the ball after their best free-throw shooter put 2 points on the board.
I bet you didn't know we were in this position 13 years ago when the Mavericks were playing the Denver Nuggets. In the same round of the playoffs in 2009, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban told the mother of Nuggets player Kenyon Martin that her son was a thug. In the fourth game of the series, La La Anthony and Martin's ex-girlfriend, rap star Trina, had ice thrown at them, along with being on the receiving end of racial slurs.
Anthony said that she was treated poorly in the stands in Dallas.
“They began yelling ‘F*** the Nuggets!’ right in front of my son.” Then she says they started calling the Nuggets players “n*****s.” She was shocked. “I’ve been at a ton of games — but I have NEVER heard fans say things like that.” Then, looking directly at her while taunting Anthony on the court, Lala says the fans called her son a “bastard.”
“I know it was directed at me. Yes, my son’s dad and I are not married — but we are engaged!” Lala turned to the fans and said, “This is just a GAME! Do you even know these players?!” She then asked her babysitter to take Kiyan out of the arena. The fans, who by this time, claims Lala, were completely intoxicated, became even “more aggressive,” yelling “F*** the Nuggets!” and insulting their families — namely, Lala says, her and Carmelo. Then they physically pushed her. Pushed to the edge, she turned around and yelled back.
TV cameras captured security guards approaching her. “They said they had seen the whole thing and told me I had done nothing wrong. I was NOT ejected, they just escorted me to a suite [for safety]. I was mad!”
Tim Frank, a league spokesman, told The Associated Press before Game 5 began in Denver that the scalpel was closed. After Malice at the Palace, the league had an ugly situation with fans and chose not to do anything. 13 years after fan behavior in Dallas became a topic of discussion in the playoffs and the league isn't doing anything besides sending out stern press releases, we are here.
Somebody is going to get knocked unconscious by one of these players for saying the wrong thing to them or harassing their families, and I'm going to love it. It will send a message that fans won't be able to ignore: "Sit down and shut up!"
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