Jamal Murray NOT suspended!!

[Q-is-here]

Jamal Murray is a great basketball player but at the same time seriously pathetic loser as a human. I've been listening to a few different Denver podcasts and they don't like his childish acts either.

They probably like him better this morning!

[TheGrey08]

If Ant had done what Murray had done, what would we want to happen? That's the question we should ask ourselves.

It's basically the same question Murray was failing to ask himself when he threw his tantrum. How would he feel if the uniforms were reversed on all those calls? Would he still think the refs were blowing those calls/non-calls? In his case, and in the cases of so many other guys complaining about calls these days, it feels like people are getting so caught up in their feelings that they're seeing everything as if it is going against them. Murray, Embiid, Carlisle. In the heat of the moment, ok. There ARE bad calls out there. And I DO actually think Murray should have been suspended. Plus, it's natural to be biased towards yourself (though I do think Ant and KAT should keep reducing their whining about calls). But some of this outraged hand-wringing after the moment is overdone and just seems to be a failure to really imagine if the situation were reversed.

Whatever we think about Murray's punishment, or about any call/non-call in a game, we should ask ourselves honestly what would we want to happen if the jerseys were reversed. We can still think Murray should have been suspended, and we can still complain about bad calls that go against us. I just think we need to make sure we are honest and fair in how we draw those conclusions and that we'd hold those same standards if the calls were going the other way, which is clearly something Murray and a lot of other guys have been failing to do recently.

I can say without hesitation that I would have wanted Ant or whomever suspended for MULTIPLE games. Would it suck? Absolutely, but we need standards and accountability.

He not only threw it at a damn official, but it ended up at the feet of guys in the paint. Both of which warrant a suspension. It doesn't matter that no one got hurt and it should not matter who did it or when they did it. In the NHL if someone throws something on the ice, they're suspended for like 3 games.

[TheGrey08]

My point FNG is that it's this star treatment that actually prevents more fans from watching the NBA. I know a number of friends and acquaintances that don't follow the game because they think the NBA is either a) too politicized in one direction and/or b) corrupt in that the deck is stacked against smaller/middle market teams. I bet there are a hell of a lot of Indianapolis Colts fans, for example, that would watch more Pacers basketball if wasn't for this perception.

My issue is less about Jamal Murray and how this impacts the series, but more about the precedent it sets. How do you not suspend someone one game for those antics - the towel, the heating pad, and the money sign - in the absence of any in-game disciplinary action at the time of the infractions? And yes, had someone actually slipped on the heating pad and gotten hurt, now you are talking about a much longer suspension. One game isn't even all that much in the context of a 7-game series.

It is what it is, but it brings back my love/hate relationship with the league.

Well put Q!

You don't suspend Murray because he threw the towel or heat pack. You suspend him to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Imagine a player throwing something onto the court Friday night, and Jokic or Ant or KAT step on it and tear their Achilles possibly ending their career, and surely their current run for a title. Would anybody give a shit what suspension was handed out to the player doing the throwing? Suspensions aren't meant to compensate the affected team. If it was, the suspensions would occur the next time the teams played each other. The suspensions are to make sure it doesn't happen again. Who thinks a player making 35 mil/yr is worried about a 100k fine. I believe Abe calculated it out to under 300 for an average guy.

Both of you nailed it. If you are not going to hold even the best players in the world accountable in the playoffs you are punching a whole right through your league's standards. This was an objective situation given a subjective outcome and that is pathetic. It's not even debatable. The dude threw a foreign object into the paint during play. Should be an immediate multi game suspension.

I've had that love/hate relationship with the NBA for easily 15 years and this is a prime example of why that is. Superstar calls/favoritism, flopping and bad officiating being others.