Unforgivable Suns?

I've never been so furious in my life.

The NBA has just announced that both Boris Diaw and Amare Stoudemire will be suspended for Game 5 of the Phoenix Suns-San Antonio Spurs series. As Stephen A. Smith would say, THIS IS ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS! As Bill Walton would say, POSSIBLY THE WORST DECISION IN THE HISTORY OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION! There are several major flaws with this decision by David Stern. First of all, the Suns are getting mightily punished for an archaic rule that needs to be destroyed. They should send the rule to the supreme court and highlight its unconstitutionality.

After Cheap Shot Rob delivered a Scott Stevens-caliber shoulder check (note the rare hockey reference), sending should-be MVP Steve Nash into basketball's version of the boards, Boris Diaw and Amare Stoudemire, along with the rest of the Suns bench, showed tremendous restraint. Any good team player's natural reaction to a violent cheap-shot dilevered to any teammate, let alone their team leader and best player, would be to protect said teammate. If I was Stoudemire or Diaw, I would have done far worse, likely attacking Robert Horry in a fit of rage. Instead, both player's showed phenomenal self-control, suppressing natural instincts and quickly settling down and returning to the bench, rather than instigating an altercation. The pair of players should be rewarded for their rapid defusing of well-deserved fury, which was the deciding factor in avoiding a brawl that would have been detrimental to the NBA, not punished for standing up and taking a step forward. Amare hardly even stepped foot on the court! It's a senseless rule; how can two crucial players get suspended for doing nothing, while Raja Bell, the only Sun who actually made contact with Horry, is fine simply because he happened to be already on the court at the time?

Furthermore, the Suns have continued to get screwed over in this series. Phoenix lost the first game of the series when a technicality forced Nash to miss the final minute because of the blood on his nose. Then, when Nash was blatantly kneed in the balls by a consistently dirty player in Bruce Bowen, Bowen was not suspended. He has already tried to kick Amare Stoudemire's legs out from under him on an uncontested dunk earlier in the series. Look! Yet Bruce Bowen has yet to be punished for his outrageous behavior, while Stoudemire and Diaw will watch a pivotal Game 5 in (NBA-dress code approved) street clothes. Furthermore, watch Fabricio Oberto set screens for the final 2 or 3 games of the series--every one of them is illegal. Not only does he move when setting them, he leans, bumps, and almost always grabs as defenders attempt to get through.

The final argument against this traveshamockery, and perhaps the most convincing one, is the fact that Tim Duncan left the bench in the second quarter when there seemed to be a potential confrontation involving Francisco Elson, only to be pulled back by Bruce Bowen. Duncan crossed the three point line, and was clearly on the court, but he did not get reprimanded for the same actions that will cost Diaw and Stoudemire. Watch for yourself. Despite this stern attempt for sabbotage, I still believe that the Suns will only be fueled by the indignities, and expect them to win the series in seven games. The NBA needs to review old rules like this one that are continuing to color the fate of the playoffs before more seasons are ruined by them. VIVA LA REVOLUTION!