Hey! If I hit you with my fist it is YOUR fault!

The NBA is not known for the mental acuity of its members. After all, this is the league whose members have uttered the following brilliant comments, among other moments of wisdom:

During the strike, Patrick Ewing; "What people don't understand is that while we make a lot of money, we spend a lot of money too." as if that somehow justifies to a guy makeing 10 bucks an hour Ewings demands to get a raise from 10 or 12 million a year to 15 or whatever he was looking for.
Or Kenny and his brilliant complaint in the same time period: "Do you have any idea how much insurance costs on 5 or 6 Ferraris?" (not direct quotes but the essence is pretty close)
Or the previously mentioned "slave" crack where playing basketball for 8 figures somehow equates to slavery because horror of horrors, the players, as league representatives, were asked to wear suits. Oh, the humanity of it all.
Well, enter Isaiah Thomas into the "I plays basketball so I is a genius" sweepstakes. Thomas is the General Manager/coach for the New York Knicks. During his playing days Thomas played for the Detroit Pistons, a team notorious for their brutality. They thought the correct way to play defense against Michael Jordan, a man they could not stop any other way, was to foul him as hard as possible as often as possible.
Thomas's team was losing. Badly. By 18 or 19 points. There was not enough time for his team to come back to win. And the Nuggets WERE breaking an "unwritten" rule that once the game is out of reach you rest your starters and play guys who are never in games that matter.
Here is the thing, though...unwritten rules are not actually rules...they are things people GENERALLY go by, but not always. So the Nuggets might have been showing poor taste but they were not, in fact, breaking any rules.
That didn't stop the Knicks. Hardly surprising...they play in a town that brags about its lack of civility to the point there is even a pizza commercial right now that trades on the New York image...loud, rude, obnoxious, and the louder, ruder and more obnoxious you are the more "New York" you are...and yet people wonder why I hate the city? There you have it.
Anyway, a Nugget had a break-away lay-up. For those who don't follow basketball, a break-away means the player is in front of everyone else and there is no safe way to stop the basket from being scored. Of course, this being New bleeping York, Thomas's hatchet man took Smith down by the throat. This is very dangerous as the player cannot protect himself from the full force of the fall. It is career threatening.
If you know anything about Smith you know he is always ready to fight. He would be a natural fit for New York...after all, if someone tells him "Thank you" he probably thinks it is an insult and would be willing to pop you one for saying it. Or he could be a postman...
Anyway, he popped up and popped his attacker. The brawl escalated. 10 players were (rightfully) ejected.
Now, let's examine a few facts.
- Thomas had told Carmelo Anthony, the Nugget star, not to play in the paint. Thomas was known for driving to the hole regardles of the score since that is the best way to score.
- a Knick committed a dangerous foul that draws a Flagrant at any point in the game and usually leads to that player's ejection.
- Thomas is convinced these were the Nuggets fault.
How? Because they are a better team? Okay, so you were getting beaten fairly handily. New flash...the way to stop that ISN'T to try to end careers...it is to get better players, coach them to play together and actually score a few points. You, Mr. Thomas, acquired most of the current roster. You thought it was a good idea to bring in Marbury and still add other ballhogs. You put together a team that is selfish, does not play well together. No, the blame for this one lies with the people that started it and no amount of whining or blame deflecting is going to make anyone with a lick of sense believe otherwise. Grow up, take your suspension, and stop blaming others for the mistakes you and your players made.