The WWB

It’s finally happened: the NBA has joined forces with professional wrestling to form a new multimillion dollar franchise, World Wrestling Basketball.

At least, that’s what appeared to have happened Friday night during the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers game, which took place in Detroit. The Piston’s Ben Wallace shoved Pacer’s forward Ron Artest after Artest fouled Wallace hard under the basket.

After separating Wallace and Artest, a Pistons fan felt it prudent to hurl a cup of beer at Artest, which landed squarely on his chest while Artest was lying on the scoring table trying to stay out of more trouble. In a frightening rage, Artest lurched forward into the crowd attacking who he thought the assailant was. What followed was a no-holds-barred brawl involving players from both teams and fans. Innocent bystanders – including an elderly woman – were shoved to the ground during the unruly riot.

The NBA took swift action against the two clubs, handing out suspensions and bans. Artest was suspended for the entire season, while other brawlers from the Pacers like Stephen Jackson and Jermaine O’Neil were suspended for 30 and 25 games respectively. Wallace was suspended for a meager six games.

“The line is drawn, and my guess is that won’t happen again — certainly not by anybody who wants to be associated with our league,” said David Stern, commissioner of the NBA.

According to MSNBC, Artest will lose approximately $5 million in salary and O’Neal will squander nearly 25 percent of his $14.8 million salary. And for what?

This incident proves one thing: the NBA is full of egotistically selfish dirt bags. The days of respectable role models like Michael Jordan and Larry Bird are history; and the NBA opened the floodgates to such intolerable behavior by allowing players to be drafted before finishing college and high school.

With so many young players still struggling to grow out of their childish adolescent behavior, it was only a matter of time before the pot boiled over.

The NBA took the right step by applying such lengthy suspensions and pay cuts. But something else needs to be done. The league should set up a “no tolerance” policy in which players are forced to follow a specific code of conduct. If a player doesn’t adhere to any part of the code, they should be fined…heavily: put a dent in their wallet and ego.

The fact is that the NBA lacks discipline and is rapidly losing the dignity and respect it once had. These players are supposed to be role models. Instead, they’re uneducated fools. And the fans are no different.