Comments on: Are the NBA rules for using the “F” word the way they should be?

By: mister12

mister12 — Tue, 24 May 2011 14:27:26 +0000

Next, the NBA will incorporate chest protectors and face masks. The real question is how deeply connected are the Gay/Lesbian & PETA communities? When they feel offended, things happen pretty damn quickly.

By: bigtrav425

bigtrav425 — Tue, 24 May 2011 13:00:50 +0000

Just words my friend just plain ol words!…but i will say i agree great article…il also say Stern is all about how people perceive him and the NBA.Somehow he thinks everyone loves him and the NBA,which in fact there is alot of hate for him atleast.So he would never be a man and stand up and say,”We didnt like what Noah said or did at all,but we understand he was being provoked in the middle of a intense playoff game” “that being said we have talked to him and warned him to try his best in not being provoked”…..somethng like that would of been a lil more better and suited for the situation, but again Stern would never do that because he would have all the gay groups up in arms and he wouldnt know what to do.In the end as much as i hate Noah he got screwed on this deal

By: goodbananas

goodbananas — Tue, 24 May 2011 06:25:28 +0000

“Doctor” A is a hack, and a fraud. He has made his entire career out of regurgitating and repackaging what other REAL journalists and reporters have already said, whether in his tweets or while writing blurbs. Go figure that when he actually writes something opinion-based that it is of terrible quality. For once bring something original and thought-provoking to the table. You are still a hack and have no credibility from most respected NBA writers out there. When people retort “anyone can do your job” in jest, they’re referring to people like you. Enjoy sitting on Twitter all day and re-tweeting others and pawning off their own ideas and thoughts as your own. Pathetic.

By: Steve Alexander

Steve Alexander — Tue, 24 May 2011 06:07:13 +0000

Great comments.

By: aqzi

aqzi — Tue, 24 May 2011 05:43:27 +0000

I think this article was well thought out and well-written. I do have some commentary though.

“But quite simply, Kobe was fined more because he berated an official, while Noah simply violated the league’s conduct policy.”
I don’t think this is 100% true. I believe Kobe was fined more because he berated an official, because he makes much more than Noah, and because he is a much more exposed player than Noah. When an NBA superstar for the past ten years does what Kobe did (on a close-up on national TV, no less), it is a huge story. If the incident with Kobe hadn’t occurred, it’s clear the incident with Noah would be hardly the story it is.

In that respect, I do think it’s justified that higher-paid, more popular players are fined more than lesser players. If the NBA had said, “We fined Kobe twice as much because he is a much more popular player who is much more exposed and therefore has an even greater responsibility to not use that word,” then that would have been fine with me. Being an athlete means you are a role model, whether you like it or not. Being a superstar athlete means you are an even bigger role model, whether you like it or not.

On top of all that, Kobe’s comment was made to an official.

“The real question I have is, why don’t the rules dictate a bigger fine for racism/bigotry, as well as what specifically makes attacking a referee more taboo than lighting a fan up? Are referees more valuable than fans?”
Obviously referees are not more valuable than the fans; the fans pay the refs’ salary. But one drunk fan out of 20,123 in the arena is less important than one ref out of the three on the court. A player berating an official is a type of intimidation, a player berating a fan is anger boiling up.
Regardless, it ultimately does come down to the fans. Sure, the fans don’t want to be disrespected, so the 0.1% of Americans who can afford seats in the first five rows to playoff games may be unhappy that Noah was only fined 50k. But the majority of fans don’t want to see the game tainted, which means they don’t want to see Kobe calling a ref a derogatory term. They probably couldn’t care less about the feelings of that rich, drunk fan.

By: ahemahem

ahemahem — Tue, 24 May 2011 03:30:38 +0000

The league office does not demonstrate enough intelligent analysis or explanation to merit fans’ respect. This is harsh language, but you really don’t know what they’re going to do next. It is culture-wide inasmuch you often don’t know what the referees are on the court are going to call, either.