Dirty Deeds in Dallas...

I want to thank everyone last night who was involved in proving me right. The media, David Stern, the NBA, Tim Duncan, everyone. It feels really good to finally get the recognition I deserve. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, check out what I wrote a couple weeks ago concerning the suspension of Joey Crawford.

"I won’t pretend to know what exactly happened, but I will say this – if that was Rasheed Wallace and not Tim Duncan, this is a non-story. For that reason alone, the suspension was unacceptable."

Now fast forward to last night when Stephen Jackson, a known villain of the Association following an ugly brawl a couple years ago in Detroit, is ejected for what he says was clapping to motivate his teammates for the coming home game. The official saw the act as a lack of respect and promptly tossed Jackson. No warning or first technical, instead he's sent packing - no questions asked. This is especially odd since one tech ejections usually only come after serious incidents.

"I wasn't trying to show nobody up... It didn't make no sense to me. If I wanted to blow up, I could've blew up then. Why blow up when there's 8 seconds left when the game is over? It doesn't make no sense. Do I have 'moron' written on my forehead when I walk out on the court or something? I don't. ... I'm smarter than a lot of people think. I'm going to continue to play basketball and do what I do." - Stephen Jackson

So why no real story? The answer there is two fold.

First, if the NBA suspends Jackson they not only set a precedent for this kind of ejection, but they also become hypocrites for coming to the aid of Tim Duncan in a similar situation and not for Stephen Jackson. This angers the player and the player's association and puts the spotlight on Stern and Stu Jackson, which they don't want. However, the NBA can't very well support the referee because that would be saying that the suspension of Joey was the wrong call. So they do nothing and let the story disappear.

Second, if they suspend Stephen Jackson for clapping, they're forced to suspend Dallas Maverick Jason Terry as well for tossing Baron Davis to the ground - a suspension that I feel is warranted one way or another. The NBA really doesn't want to lose two starters for what has been the most watched series of the playoffs so far, so once again, they choose to do nothing and hope it goes away.

Why then doesn't Stern just suspend the official? Obvious - because it's Stephen Jackson and Stephen Jackson is crazy. No one will complain if you toss someone who's crazy. You can toss Jackson, Rasheed, Artest, and probably Matt Barnes simply because he has a mohawk. No one will bat an eye. You toss Duncan and instead of there being a problem with the player, it now becomes a problem with the referee. This is a glaring inconsistency that needs to be addressed.

That there were 8.9 seconds left in the game and that Don Nelson swore he would personally issue a fine to Jackson are the factors that are keeping all heads cool in this situation. Still Stern needs to pick a side of the fence. He can't straddle anymore and make decisions circumstantially based on the player or else he'll start to lose credibility on both sides.

Honestly, as long as Jason Richardson and Stephen Jackson are on the court for game six, I'm happy. As long as the Warriors harbor these feelings and come to play on Thursday, I'm happy. As long as I get to see Cuban squirm one more time, I'm happy.

All I want is some good basketball...