Basketbrawl

Remember the Pistons-Pacers brawl a couple of years ago (November 19, 2004 to be exact)? Remember how Ron Artest was suspended for almost a year because of what happened? Remember how that “basketbrawl' tainted the NBA's image?

Well, it seems like the NBA players never learned from that.

Another crazy fight occured. This time involving the Knicks and Nuggets. The fight started when Denver’s J.R. Smith was fouled hard by NY's Mardy Collins. Collins grabbed Smith around the neck as he was going in for a breakaway layup. There was 1:15 left and Denver had a 19-point lead.

Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony and Knicks Nate Robinson quickly joined the fray. Then Melo (not so mellow after all) threw a punch at Collins. Robinson and Smith tackled each other, and flew right into the first row of spectators. Many punches were thrown.

As a result, the 10 players on the court at the time were ejected.

Why did this all happen? I think the Knicks were just sore losers. They were simply angry at the Nuggets because the latter still had their starters in the game in the last 2 minutes despite a double-digit lead. In fairness to the Knicks though, their frustration was probably understandable coz they were playing at home. However, the foul was really malicious and was uncalled for.

Anyway, it's interesting to see how the NBA reacts to this – the suspensions and fines, etc. Considering that Melo, the league's leading scorer, is considered as one of the images and future superstars of the NBA, would they consider suspending him? (lol - 'consider' 3 times in a sentence) If they do, for how long? We'll just have to see.