he Latrell Sprewell and P.J. Carlesimo incident. Sprewell, a Golden State Warrior player under Carlesimo at the time, choked his coach in the middle of practice. It was all over the news, and the NBA suspended him for a year without pay. The next season, he was playing for the New York Knicks in the playoffs for a greater amount of money than what he lost the year he was suspended. Is this real justice? Did he get what he deserved? Maybe it did effect him and maybe he has changed. He hasn't got in any fights since then. Maybe the message was sent. But there are fights that still occur occasionally in the NBA. Dennis Rodman is another perfect example; he would head-butt referees and kick cameramen in the groin, but he would still find a team that wanted him. Teams thought he was good publicity. He is very popular and he brought more fans to the games because of his name and reputation. Finally, while Rodman was playing for Dallas, the league realized he is not going to clean up and he is now most likely out of the league forever. The question is asked, though, "Was he given too many chances?" I feel that he was. Even though he was a talented player, he gave the NBA a bad image. The leagues need to start taking control of the players and not allowing them to embarrass the league or make them look bad. The players who do things to damage the images of the different leagues need to be punished a lot more then they are. Another reason is because of the incidents that are now occurring at the college level. A prime example of that would be the incident that has recently come out about Indiana Universities men's basketball coach Bobby Knight. Coach Knight was accused of choking former player Neil Reed. What does this say about all sports in general. Violence occurs at all levels of athletics, mostly college and pros that are suppose to be setting the example. Who does this effect? It effects everyone from the leagues and everyone within...
