Fallout from MSG

If you haven't seen the video of the Knicks-Nuggets fight then you're just not paying attention. I think the reactions of this are a bit overblown. The NHL allows players to duke it out, it's "part of the game". For Major League Baseball, fans love it when players go at it. And even in the NFL, where there aren't many post whistle altercations, players spend the afternoon running and slamming their bodies into each other as fast and hard as they can. In the NBA, you're going to get the occasionally overheated confrontation and it may turn ugly. Of course, any time Isiah is involved, all bets are off and even his own city is roasting him for this one. Obviously, when the suspensions get handed out today, Melo, the NBA's leading scorer will be facing plenty of time on the bench, not returning until sometime in January. So will Nate Robinson and everyone else that was tossed, but the media outcry seems a bit extreme. I know the NBA isn't supposed to condone fighting, but if they can shrug off bench clearing brawls and bloody, toothless smiles, why is it necessary to make such a big deal about a few weakly thrown right hooks?

Here we go again [YouTube]
Picking a fight [Slam Sports]
Little Man picks a fight [New York Daily News]