Why The NBA Is Clown Shoes

There is a reason why I don't talk much about basketball in this space. Mainly, it's because the NBA is freaking clown shoes.

Steve Nash is one of the best players in the entire league. The Spurs are a dirty team. The following play took place at the end of their last game:



Clearly a cheap shot from a role player on the opposing team's best player. There is clearly no attempt at any sort of basketball move and was clearly an intent to injure. Robert Horry should've been kicked out of this game and suspended. Which he was. For two games.

Unfortunately for the Phoenix Suns, Amare Stoudemire (all NBA team and amazing player in his own right) and Boris Diaw were also suspended one game for "stepping onto the court." If you watch the video, yes, Boris Diaw and Amare Stoudemire step onto the court quickly after Nash is brutally taken down with the cheapest of shots. In any team sport I know of, the same thing would happen if a team ran your best player. Now here is the kicker: Stoudemire and Diaw did not make contact with a single opposing player. They did not confront a single opposing player. Their coaches quickly held them back and no altercation took place.

It's interesting that when the ruling was passed down, NBA disciplinarian Stu Jackson and the commissioner David Stern said that the rule is a hard rule and there are no exceptions, no matter what the circumstances were leading up to the event. Stepping onto the court during an NBA game while you are currently sitting on the bench is a one game suspension, no ifs, ands and buts about it. Now, I can live with that. It's a rule in the NBA rule book and Stoudemire and Diaw did step onto the court while they were on the bench.

So lets look at another clip from earlier in that game:



Tim Duncan and Bruce Bowen, both currently sitting on the bench and out of the game, CLEARLY step onto the court. It's there clear as day. Neither Bowen or Duncan made physical contact with a Sun. However, the circumstances were different. Their star player wasn't just delivered a tremendous cheap shot. There wasn't much of a chance of a physical altercation.

So what is it Stu Jackson and David Stern? Is this a hard and fast rule like you say it is with absolutely no exceptions? If so, why are Tim Duncan and Bruce Bowen also not suspended for one game? By suspending Stoudemire and Diaw and allowing Duncan and Bowen to play, you've made liars out of yourselves, you've shown that rules are not rules, and you've proven that the NBA is freaking clown shoes.