Cause I can’t believe the NBA right now. The organization used to be famous for protecting its star players. It used to be you couldn’t even touch a star player. There was no way any player could even breathe on Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson or Isaiah Thomas. Actually, these players used to get away with everything. How about Jordan’s travel against the Jazz in the finals? Remember Shaq practically pitching a tent under the basket?
Things are definitely changing now, and not for the better. Although it was frustrating, the NBA had good reason to protect its star players. After all, that’s who the fans pay hundreds of dollars to see. So what happened? These guys are taking a bigger pounding than they’ve ever seen before. The most recent egregious act was a hit on Lebron James by Brendan Haywood of the Washington Wizards in this year’s playoffs.
The refs made the right call and ejected him, but the league did NOT suspend him.
Really? How could you not suspend this guy? It’s not a basketball play. He does not even go for the ball. Haywood shoves James in the air. Raja Bell’s clothesline on Kobe was gnarly, and he got suspended for it (deservedly). Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw get suspended for simply leaving the bench. They didn’t even touch anybody, let alone hit “King James” in mid-air causing a potential dangerous play.
The bad blood between the Cavs and the Wizards is now even worse, and Cavs players are taking revenge on the Wizards. Watch a game. Anderson Varejao will throw an elbow at anyone that hits LeBron.
The NBA needs to take control of this series before they have another Pacers-Pistons type brawl.
