Dahntay Jones Avoids Suspension … For Now

ESPN’s Marc Stein is reporting that Denver Nuggets guard Dahntay Jones will not be suspended for his dangerous and intentional trip of Los Angeles Lakers’ guard Kobe Bryant during Game 4 of the Western Conference finals.

Wrote Stein on ESPN’s Web site:

Denver Nuggets guard Dahntay Jones is on the brink of a one-game suspension after the NBA upgraded his Game 4 trip of Kobe Bryant to a flagrant foul.

The foul — deemed a flagrant foul 1 by league officials — is Jones’ third flagrant of the postseason and his second in the past two games in the Western Conference finals. That gives Jones three flagrant-foul points in the playoffs, with players receiving an automatic one-game ban when they exceed three points.

The league confirmed Tuesday night that Jones’ third-quarter trip — which was not spotted by the officiating crew — has been reclassified as a flagrant 1.It also confirmed that Andrew Bynum’s fourth-quarter flagrant 1 against Denver’s Chris Andersen has been downgraded to a personal foul.

The NBA didn’t quite have the guts to do what needed to be done. Instead, the league seems to have decided to let Jones (earning a reputation among some people as a dirty player), in essence, suspend himself with his next flagrant foul. I can understand not wanting to let a suspension play a factor in this important playoff series, but that was not Jones’ first cheap shot of Bryant. On the other hand, the league needs to be tougher on habitual offenders in regard to dangerous plays like that one.

Heaven only knows what referee Bennett Salvatore (who called nothing) was looking at … standing right in front of the play.

I still contend, buig playoff series or not, Dahntay Jones deserved a one-game suspension for the trip (that followed up the dangerous push of a mid-air Bryant).

ESPN:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4207241

Dallas Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban Has To Be Reigned In

Now, with that being said … Cuban was dead wrong for confronting Denver Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin’s mom during his post-game tirade (after the Mavericks, in some ways, might have been screwed by the referees). You never go after someone’s mother. If he thought that Kenyon Martin as being a thug then he should have said that right to Martin’s face and not walk around the court throwing a tantrum, shoving hard-working cameramen and then verbally going after the mom of an opposing player. With that kind of conduct, how can Cuban refer to Martin as a thug or a punk (or whatever it was he actually said to Martin’s mother) … and do it with a straight face?
I am not exactly the biggest fan of columnist Jason Whitlock, but he makes a lot of sense (I don’t think of everything he said in this column, but I agree with a lot of it). Here is Whitlock’s take on the Cuban-Martin flare up.

Here is a small excerpt from Whitlock’s column:

(NBA Commissioner) David Stern’s refusal to take action against Cuban following Game 3 is indefensible.
Does Stern not understand the culture of the league he oversees? Does he fail to comprehend the position Kenyon Martin is in if he fails to publicly (and perhaps physically) defend his mama?

Stern needs to step his game up and bring a little more structure to ownership etiquette for Mark Cuban. Does he want confrontations to escalate? I truly can appreciate Cuban’s passion and energy, but he was completely out of line and, as Whitlock said, Cuban’s actions after Game 3 were indeed “indefensible.” Honestly, the NBA needs more passionate and dedicated owners like Mark Cuban, but tempered with a little more self control and more respect for the sport, players, coaches, family, media and the opposition’s players, coaches, family and media. Cuban’s online blog apology was OK (the link to it is below), but it would be better if made directly to Martin and directly to his mother.
Does Stern want a repeat of the brawl that happened at the Palace of Auburn Hills between the Detroit Pistons and the Indiana Pacers? If he allows this to slide then what else will he allow to slide in the future?

Mark Cuban’s apology:
http://blogmaverick.com/2009/05/12/an-apology-to-kenyon-martins-mom-2/