Ron Artest suspension is seven games for elbow attack on Harden

[Crown&Coke]

seven is a lot of games.

considering its 6 playoff games, thats a lot of time to miss. could be as much as 2 weeks to be inactive. Hopefully Ron don't get fat

[Legends66NBA7]

I remember hearing some commentators predicting 1 or 2 games

[Suckafree]

I said he'd get 10. But around 7 I guess seems fair

[DMV2]

That's a fair amount.

[ILLsmak]

Maybe they're gonna call shit super tight vs LA and get them knocked out early.

-Smak

[monkeypox]

seems about right. People are making way more out of this because of how it ended. The Bynum thing was way more vicious and pre-meditated. There have been worse fouls this season. Artest in the moment flung his elbow without looking. It's not like he went over and elbowed Harden in the head for no reason. People make it out like Artest is some ninja, that he felt Hardens arm and calculated where his head was going to be and elbowed him in the back of the ear. That's not what happened. Why would he do that? He just dunked the ball and was doing gorilla thumps on his chest, and Harden runs up on him. Artest in the moment swings his elbow for whatever reason, to clear Harden off of him, to hit Harden, whatever, and it happened to hit the guy right behind the ear. It was super stupid and dangerous, but it's not even the worst flagrant foul this year. Maybe the worst result, but not the worst foul.

[AMISTILLILL]

You have to consider the pressure Stern and others live under with this sort of thing. You want to set an example, but you don't want to imply that you're imparting a harsh punishment on a player based primarily on his reputation.

With that in mind, 7 games seems pretty fair. The Lakers, even after the media fracas of the Heat, are still one of the bigger draws in the league. An early exit stemming from the loss of a starter, due to league enacted suspensions, could hurt ratings in a lockout shortened season already plagued with canceled games and lost revenue.

With Barnes' improved play in Kobe's absence, he should be more than capable of playing at the elevated level necessary for the post-season. Lakers should be able to make it through the first round without Artest and without much trouble.

[chazzy]

With Barnes' improved play in Kobe's absence, he should be more than capable of playing at the elevated level necessary for the post-season. Lakers should be able to make it through the first round without Artest without much trouble.

Actually, Barnes has a sprained ankle and it's supposedly really sore.. and Ebanks dropped a dumbbell on his hand today. We may be seeing some Eyenga action in the 1st round

[maybeshewill13]

Actually, Barnes has a sprained ankle and it's supposedly really sore.. and Ebanks dropped a dumbbell on his hand today. We may be seeing some Eyenga action in the 1st round

[jb220]

Beautiful

As I said earlier make sure that the first round series goes 6 games, toy around with the Nuggets and make sure MWP is back for OKC. Let's hear those piece of shit hicks cry.

[G-Funk]

Hope that's not true. Not enough.. anyone but Metta should have gotten 7 games. Considering his record he should be gone for the playoffs. God I really hope this psycho doesn't kill someone before the league kicks him out.

Told all you [COLOR="DarkRed"]delusional Laker fans[/COLOR] it wasn't getting 2-3 though

[t-rex]

Not bad, thought it would be more...

Agreed.

[AMISTILLILL]

Actually, Barnes has a sprained ankle and it's supposedly really sore.. and Ebanks dropped a dumbbell on his hand today. We may be seeing some Eyenga action in the 1st round

I heard about that but saw him on the box score for that last game (was out of town during the game). Figured he was back and not feeling the effects of the injury.

Either way, Lakers have been compensating for one weak starter for a very long time. They'll have to carry the load for the SF position now, as opposed to the PG position they've previously been compensating for with Derek Fisher.

[(e)]

I think it's a little more than he deserved, honestly. I thought Bynum's elbow to JJ had more intent to injure than Metta's did.

I thought it should of been 5 games max, especially since they're Playoff games which obviously hold a lot more value to the team than a regular season game. Missing 6 Playoff games is a pretty 'stern' suspension.

[kurt_rambis]

how much do you think MWP insisting it was an accident played into it? did stern take him at his word? if he said it was on purpose out of anger or frustration or whatever would he get a longer suspension?