After Andrew Bynum was ejected for Friday's Los Angeles Lakers win over the Minnesota Timberwolves for body-checking Michael Beasley in mid-air, the NBA handed down a two-game suspension on the center. Bynum served the first game of the suspension on Sunday as the Lakers narrowly beat the Blazers; L.A. next plays the Suns on Tuesday.
POLL: Did Lakers’ Andrew Bynum Deserve Two-Game Suspension?
Lakers coach Phil Jackson defended Bynum on Friday, and continued the sentiment on Sunday, intimating that because Beasley wasn't too injured to come back over the weekend, Bynum shouldn't have had to miss games. Does Jackson have a point? Or was the two-game suspension fair? My thoughts after the jump.
I think the league had to do something to discourage further plays like this, and given that a one-game suspension comes along with any Flagrant-2, a two-game suspension was the minimal "take notice" move. We laughed at Chris Bosh for telling opponents not to dive for balls around other players, but this is so much different. Bynum isn't making any sort of play on the ball whatsoever. When he takes off to meet Beasley in mid-air, the aim is simply to knock Beasley off course and prevent the lay-up or dunk. That's dangerous! That's not basketball. It's the equivalent of head-hunting in baseball, and it's got to be penalized in a way that deters further episodes.
I find that the two-game suspension will probably deter Bynum from making such unnervingly stupid plays in the future. That’s success, right? Whether Beasley was knocked to the injured list or not, Bynum did a bad thing and must suffer the penalty.
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