I remember this incident. I remember the backlash. But the way you hear the players explain it in this doc, you'd think it was a different incident altogether. No accountability whatsoever.
Yes, a fan threw a cup at Artest. But that didn't start the riot. Artest jumping into the stands and wailing on the (wrong) fan is what started it.
Don't get me wrong, the fan should have been ejected/arrested. But fans throwing things is not something new. As a player, you don't get to jump in the stands and attack them for it. That's not self defense.
Jackson's argument that he was defending his teammate? No he wasn't. If he was, he would have been trying to pull Artest out of the stands, not throwing haymakers. Same for O'Neil.
I will say that I didn't know O'Neil had his suspension shortened. I don't understand why. Clear video of him running across the court to sucker punch a fan who had already been separated from Artest. Again, he wasn't defending anyone, he was attacking someone. Fan was charged, as he should have been. But the sucker punch was completely unwarranted.
All in all, there was a whole lot of wrong that went down. But the cup didn't start the riot, Artest did.
Also of note, O'Neil says multiple times that if you saw the whole footage instead of the edited version, you would have a different opinion. I didn't see any new footage in this doc. And the footage I saw just reflects what I mentioned above.
Yes, a fan threw a cup at Artest. But that didn't start the riot. Artest jumping into the stands and wailing on the (wrong) fan is what started it.
Don't get me wrong, the fan should have been ejected/arrested. But fans throwing things is not something new. As a player, you don't get to jump in the stands and attack them for it. That's not self defense.
Jackson's argument that he was defending his teammate? No he wasn't. If he was, he would have been trying to pull Artest out of the stands, not throwing haymakers. Same for O'Neil.
I will say that I didn't know O'Neil had his suspension shortened. I don't understand why. Clear video of him running across the court to sucker punch a fan who had already been separated from Artest. Again, he wasn't defending anyone, he was attacking someone. Fan was charged, as he should have been. But the sucker punch was completely unwarranted.
All in all, there was a whole lot of wrong that went down. But the cup didn't start the riot, Artest did.
Also of note, O'Neil says multiple times that if you saw the whole footage instead of the edited version, you would have a different opinion. I didn't see any new footage in this doc. And the footage I saw just reflects what I mentioned above.