Flagrant stupidity

Game four of the Jazz-Warriors series turned nasty during the last couple minutes in Oakland late last night. First, Baron Davis elbowed/shouldered Derek Fisher in the side of the head after missing a three-point attempt, knocking him to the floor. Then, with about thirty-seven seconds left, after Golden State had apparently given up fouling, Mehmet Okur of Utah caught a pass on the wing and tried to go to the basket with it. Jason Richardson apparently took offense, and threw the Turk to the ground before he could score.

The officials missed the first incident, and Utah had to call a twenty-second timeout to get Fisher some attention. But the refs handled their second chance a little better. They called a type 2 flagrant foul, and J-Rich was ejected.

Doug Collins, on the other hand, was a miserable failure. Collins, who was calling the game for TNT, blamed Okur for everything. He lamented the horrible injustice of a "professional" player like Richardson having to put Okur's health at risk because Memo defied decorum and went to the hoop instead of standing in the corner holding the ball. Pardon me, but what the hell?

There is no excuse, at this level of play, for the terrible lack of sportsmanship that the Warriors displayed down the stretch in this game. I'm sorry if they thought that it should have been them up 3-1, and were angry with themselves for playing badly in the endgame not once nor twice but three times. And I don't care if Okur's drive was a little bit inappropriate in the final minute of the game. Disrespect or no, it's never okay to try to physically harm other players. And shame on Doug Collins for not taking this same position when he had the stage and the chance to do so.

I, for one, hope that these events don't spill over into the rest of the series. In particular, I hope the league doesn't determine the series off the court by suspending either Baron Davis, Jason Richardson, or both. Rather, I hope the NBA, David Stern, Stu Jackson, etc., let this series be decided by the players, and find some other appropriate way of making it clear to the Warriors that their behavior has no place on the hardwood.

It would be nice if they would also reprimand announcers for saying stupid things on the air. I am firmly against censorship, including the censorship via exacting fines that the NBA currently practices. So, don't try to put a price on stupidity. But someone (besides just me) should explain to Collins that his comments were at the very least not helpful to the telecast last night, and possibly even harmful to the ideal of fair and decent play toward which the NBA is striving.

Richardson reportedly said "That's basketball." after the game. I hope not.