No Suspension for Kevin Garnett After a Cheap Shot

The Low Blow

In a game between the Boston Celtics and Phoenix Suns, Celtics’ forward Kevin Garnett got whistled for a foul and ejected from the game after hitting Suns’ forward Channing Frye in the groin on a 3-point attempt. Frye obviously took offense to this and got in Garnett’s face. The hit can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV-iGBfTkD0&feature=related. After watching the replay and considering Garnett’s reputation, it seemed like disciplinary actions would occur. However, instead of suspending Garnett for the cheap shot, the NBA decided to do nothing. Now one may question the decision for the league not to punish Garnett for an unnecessary shot to the man region, but once
that person finds out who the Celtics were scheduled to play next, the answer is clear as to why the lack of any form of punishment took place.

The next game on the Celtics’ schedule was against their cross-country rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers. After the Lakers defeated the Celtics in 7 games in last year’s NBA Finals, everyone seemed to be revved up for the finals rematch that was broadcasted on ABC on Sunday afternoon. Now it seems pretty clear why Garnett wasn’t suspended for his cheap shot doesn’t it? Even a 1 game suspension would mean that one of the key players in the historic Lakers/Celtics rivalry would have to miss one of the biggest games of the NBA season, not just one of the biggest games for each team, but one of the biggest games for all of the NBA.

Past Problems

If this had been a player with a good reputation on and off the court, I may be able to understand why the NBA wouldn’t suspend him for such an act. It could have been an accident I guess. But Kevin Garnett’s reputation certainly precedes him. Garnett is a well known loud mouth and trash talker, often times going way over the line. In fact, you don’t have to go that far back in order find another incident in which Garnett threw another cheap shot, not with his hand, but with his words. After a game involving the Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons, Pistons player Charlie Villanueva, who suffers from alopecia which prevents him from being able to grow hair on his head, face, and body, challenged Garnett to a fight through twitter, claiming that during the game Garnett had called him a “cancer patient.” WOAH! Over the line? I would think so. Garnett later rebutted by saying he didn’t call Villanueva a cancer patient, but instead said that Villanueva was cancerous to the league and his team. Come on. Who actually believes that? I am sorry but Garnett is either a huge lier or just spoke the worst trash talk I have ever heard, I think I am going to take the former. 

So we know that Garnett isn’t afraid to go below the belt with his words, but what about with his actions? After all, actions do speak louder than words. Well for that we do have to go a bit further back, but there definitely is video evidence of Garnett not being afraid to throw a cheap shot here or there. In the 2008 NBA Playoff series between the Celtics and Atlanta Hawks Garnett and Hawks’ center Zaza Pachulia had a bit of an altercation. In one of the games, Zaza was pressing the ball as Rondo brought it up the court and Garnett walked up and tried to set a screen on Zaza. Now, setting a screen on a player is one thing, but throwing a shoulder in when the player is running at you and can’t see you is a completely different story. As Zaza was following the ball, Garnett wounded up and threw his shoulder into the back of Pachulia, causing quite a stir between the two as Garnett was called for an illegal screen. The clip can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T99aL8j4yyc

Star Treatment

The lack of a castigation from the NBA front office proves that big names and big games get preferential treatment. Would there have been a suspension if it had been Marquis Daniels hitting someone below the waste? What about Luke Walton? Yes, there most likely would have been considering these are not key players for neither the Celtics nor the Lakers, respectively. The issue of stars getting calls during games has always been a topic of much discussion, when a foul should have been turned into a suspension, a whole different issue arises. If Garnett believes he can get away with something like that, what’s stopping him from making other cheap shots in games before bigger, nationally televised games? The NBA needs to show all players, stars and scrubs alike, that that kind of play and others like it are not going to be tolerated.