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CARMELO, SIX OTHERS SUSPENDED FOR BRAWL: Melo apologizes to the fans, the kids, his mama and his punching victim.
*The league has finally spoken. For their roles in a nasty brawl between the New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets on Saturday night, NBA scoring leader Carmelo Anthony and six others were given suspensions Monday by league commissioner David Stern.
"I was very disappointed," Stern said. "Clearly, we're not getting through or players in certain circumstances just don't want to be restrained. I would suggest that those players will not have long careers in the NBA."
Nuggets forward Anthony will sit out 15 games for shoving New York's Nate Robinson and sucker-punching Knicks player Mardy Collins in the face.
Anthony’s behavior was in reaction to activity moments earlier that sparked the melee. In terms of cash, Anthony's actions will cost him around $641,000 in salary that he won't receive. Ouch.
With 1:15 left in the game at New York’s Madison Square Garden, Collins delivered a flagrant foul to Denver guard J.R. Smith on a drive to the basket. Smith and Robinson were both suspended for 10 games.
Other suspensions included Knicks forward Jared Jeffries for four games; and Knicks center Jerome James and Nuggets forward Nene one game each for leaving the bench during an on-court altercation. Also, the Knicks and Nuggets organizations have each been fined $500,000.
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Carmelo Anthony gestures in the wake of the brawl at madison Square Garden Saturday night.
Anthony, who averages a league-best 31.6 points per game, has apologized to his fans via a statement released Monday.
It read: "Last night's altercation with the Knicks escalated further than it should have. I take full responsibility for my actions in the matter. In the heat of the moment I let my emotions get the best of me. I apologize to the fans, the Denver Nuggets, the NBA, my mother, and my family for the embarrassment I have caused them. I ask you all for your forgiveness.
“I also want to make a personal apology to Mardy Collins and his family. My actions were inexcusable, and I am sorry for making this an even more embarrassing situation.
“What makes this all the more painful is that this was one of the most important weeks of my life. I just realized one of my biggest dreams when we opened the Youth Center in Baltimore that bares (sic) my name. To see the community excited and hundreds of kids smiling was an incredible feeling. Now the thought of thousands of kids seeing this incident on TV pains me. This is not the example I want to set.
“It's my hope that we work to move forward from this event, and never let something like this happen again."
In related news, Billy Hunter, the NBA Players Association Executive Director was interviewed by Inside Hoops.com for his response to the Carmelo Anthony suspension. A portion of the interview is below.
InsideHoops.com: Your reaction when you first heard the players suspended and the length of the suspensions?
Billy Hunter: I kind of expected it. I expected, as a matter of fact I predicted he's going to impose about 15 to 20 games. And he imposed 15. I don't support it, I don't agree with it. Once we've concluded our business with Carmelo [Anthony] and his agent, in all probability there'll probably be an appeal. But I think what will also happen with the appeal is, the appeal will affect the other suspensions that have been imposed that we can't challenge because they're less than 12 games. So if I'm successful in getting Carmelo's reduced, it'll have a corresponding impact on these other guys so that, minimally, they will probably get back a portion of the money, so if there's a reduction in the number of games they'll get the money back. So that's the way we're trying to address the entire situation.
For MORE of the Q & A, click here.
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