No Nonsense NBA Suspensions

From the Boston Herald:

"An NBA spokesman confirmed last night that the league is reviewing Paul Pierce [stats]’s grab of Jamal Crawford during the Celtics [team stats]’ exhibition loss in New York Monday night.

The C’s captain, rushing to the aid of teammate Ray Allen after the guard crashed to the floor following Crawford’s foul, grabbed the Knick under the chin.

Pierce later said he thought Crawford was about to “stand over” Allen. Asked about the league’s investigation before last night’s 82-71 loss to New Jersey, Pierce said, “Well, the league will look into it then.”

---

Pierce's fate is unknown as of right now. Last week, Josh Howard was suspended for a fight with Sacramento's Brad Miller. This brings up how the NBA is being less tolerant of just about anything these days from its players and yes, even its referees.

Suspensions prior to the 2007-08 season:

10/20/07
Denver suspended J.R. Smith for the first 3 games of the regular season
for conduct detrimental to the team.

10/19/07
The NBA suspended Josh Howard (Dal) for 2 games for throwing a forearm at
the back of Brad Miller (Sac) after Miller intentionally shoved Devin
Harris (Dal) to the ground during Tuesday's Dal-Sac game.

9/17/07
The NBA reinstated suspended referee Joey Crawford. Crawford had been
suspended since 4/17/07 for improper conduct and a lack of
professionalism and for being a repeat offender following a Dallas-San
Antonio game where Crawford ejected Tim Duncan (SA) for simply
laughing while Duncan was on the bench.

8/31/07
The NBA suspended James Posey (Bos) for 1 game for his no contest plea
regarding a charge of reckless driving.

8/23/07
The NBA fined Seattle co-owner Aubrey McClendon $250,000 for his comments
from 2 weeks ago about the new owners' plans to move the team to Oklahoma.

7/14/07
The NBA suspended Ron Artest (Sac) for 7 games for his no contest plea in
May to a misdemeanor domestic violence charge.


7/14/07
The NBA suspended Stephen Jackson (GS) for 7 games for his guilty plea in
June to a felony count of criminal recklessness for firing a gun outside a
strip club last fall.

You can review a great listing of all publicized NBA suspensions dating back to 1994-95 here