After Artest had barreled down the lane on a breakaway, and finished with a loud left-handed dunk, he began to celebrate in a very physical manner beating his chest not unlike a gorilla as he jogged back down the floor after the made basket. What happened next has been debated. As I saw it in real-time while watching the game (things can be construed differently after 50 slow motion replays), Oklahoma City's James Harden was simply going to receive an in-bounds pass from his teammate and happened to be in Ron Ron's way. As they bumped into each other (which happens all the time when playing Basketball, at any level) Artest proceeded to cock and throw a powerful elbow that landed squarely on James Harden's ear, resulting in a concussion for Harden, and a suspension for Artest.
My initial reaction was that the elbow was not entirely intentional. Despite the fact that no sane adult would make that kind of motion with their elbow for no apparent reason, Ron Artest is far from sane. I do believe that Artest felt someone next to him, but certainly didn't see who it was or exactly where their head was, yet he reverted to his spastic out of control inner self. Still, the result is what's most important. He deserved to get suspended, and 7 games sounds about right, but before questioning the intent of the play, Artest's history of absolute unpredictability and self-proclaimed history of mental illness must be considered.
Of course, Artest's reputation in the NBA is well deserved, and that certainly is considered when any type of punishment from the league is handed down. For those who don't remember, or don't know, here ya go:
Here is the video from Sunday's game, I've given my two cents, you can decide for yourself.
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