I love this game!

I was planning on posting this last Friday, but I felt my fourth post in as many days might be a little much for one week and then I just never got around to finishing it. I was also tagged by my sister last week and never got around to writing that piece up either. Maybe tonight, though I doubt it with the fifth hour of 24 coming up. I know it's a little late, but I feel as though I have to chime in on the Antonio Davis going into the stands thing. If you know me, you'll be thinking to yourself, duh, he has to chime in on EVERYTHING. But, being a former employee of the Chicago Bulls and having met the majority of the parties involved in this fiasco, I feel like I should give everyone a summation and my humble opinion.

For those that have been in a coma for the past week, or simply don't pay enough attention to sports, the Chicago Bulls-New York Knicks game got a little ugly during overtime last Wednesday night. I have seen the video, read some first hand accounts by those that witnessed the events and even spoken to a couple of former co-workers about the incident. Here's what happened:

Section 121 is located directly behind the visitor's bench. Generally there are some seats reserved in that section for the visiting team's friends and family. Mostly, it's filled with long-time season ticket holders who don't get rowdy. It was here that Kendra Davis, Chicago native and wife of former Bulls' forward Antonio Davis, sat with her son and some friends for the game. Enter Michael Axelrod, who, despite an appropriate name, is not a male-stripper. Axelrod is a 22-year old (though he looks almost 40) son of a prominent Chicago political businessman and he was sitting directly behind the Davis family.

Here is where there are conflicting stories. The initial report was that of a drunk and obnoxious Axelrod shouting obscenities in the direction of the referees and the Knicks. When Kendra got up to confront the man he was in her face and grabbed her. However, video evidence suggests otherwise. It appears that he was sitting in his seat at the time of the confrontation and she was the aggressor. He calmly turns his head and gestures for security to intervene while Kendra continues to stick her hands in his face and yell. He claims she told him to "shut his [expletive] mouth" and then poked him in the face. Any way you look at it, he must have said something that got under her skin. Given her history though, I imagine her skin is not very thick. In the past she has had excessive verbal confrontations with Jerry Krause (former Bulls GM), Latrell Spreewell (former Knicks player) and the Toronto Media. It's also being reported that she had some reckless/drunk driving charges in Naperville just a few months ago.

It was at this point that Antonio Davis jumped over the scorer's table and came running up into the stands to "defend his wife." Allegedly he had been watching the confrontation unfold while running up and down the court. During the next timeout he determined his wife was in some sort of danger and decided that the situation warranted his immediate attention. But, couldn't he have turned to any of about a dozen security guards and asked them to intervene, or to help? I know from my experience in the United Center that there are a number of off duty police officers patrolling the lower level near the court. Not only that, but any danger she was in appeared to be self-inflicted from the video.

Thankfully the altercation didn't escalate like the fiasco in Detroit during the 2004-2005 season. However, it could have very easily, especially given the history of fans at Chicago sporting events. I'm not suggesting that Chicago fans are worse than other cities, namely those in Philadelphia, but there have been several instances over the past few years that have made national headlines. The problem in this case is that the media, including Jay Mariotti of the Sun Times and ESPN's Around the Horn, used it's collective Jump to Conclusions Mat and decided that the "drunk" fan must have been at fault. So did Antonio Davis, Larry Brown and a number of other New York Knicks who were interviewed. As it turns out, Axelrod hadn't had anything to drink since a glass of wine at dinner about four hours earlier and is now suing AD for slander and defamation. He says he would drop the charges if Kendra and AD made public apologies. Over the weekend, they scoffed at the suggestion that they were at fault and refused.

My biggest problem with this situation is the suspension laid down by David Stern and the NBA. Davis was immediately ejected and later suspended for only five games. Just a year ago we heard Stern say that we would never see an NBA player enter the stands again. Clearly he was wrong on that account. He defends his slap on the wrist suspension by saying that Davis was merely protecting his family, which is understandable. Yes, that would be understandable, but there didn't appear to be any immediate danger. If Davis actually saw the events taking place while he was on the court, as he claims, he had to have seen that she was turned around, yelling and gesturing at a gentleman who was calmly seated.

Further, Davis is the head of the NBA Player's Association. He is in a very prominent and respectable position with the league and has always been regarded as a role model to the younger players in the league. What message does it send to them that he can go up into the stands and only get a five game suspension? If anything, I think he should have received a stiffer penalty (maybe in the neighborhood of 20-30 games) because, of all people, he should have known better. A lengthy, meaningful suspension in this, the first instance since the Ron Artest melee, would have sent a clear message that even if you don't throw a punch, you still have no business being in the stands.

The more I think about it, the more infuriated I am that the league refused to act appropriately simply because of AD's character. Had this been Artest again, Stern would have reopened Alcatraz. If this was a player like Allen Iverson there would have been a suspension of more than 20 games. I'm convinced of this. And then, in the aftermath of this whole thing, Davis and his wife have shown their true character in how they have handled the situation. Kendra appears to be nothing more than a selfish, arrogant, self-entitled bitch. Because she is the wife of an NBA player, she appears to believe she is better than other people and can get away with anything.

Reports from the United Center are that Kendra and her family left following the incident and that Axelrod, after giving his statement to UC security, was allowed to return to his seat to watch the conclusion of the Bulls' win. Quite frankly, after all of this and given her history, I think AD might be best advised to leave the wife at home when he has to travel for work.