A sad day for the NBA and a newfound respect for Jim Gray

As an NBA fan, I was extremely dissapointed tonight to see the events (brawl) at the Pacers/Pistons game. Not only were the players fighting with each other, but the fans somehow became involved in the altercation. Having just seen the game footage on ESPN, I'm still kind of in shock and do not have a complete picture of what really happened.


I have never been a big Jim Gray fan back from the mid-late 90's when he always did the 'annoying' type of NBA interview when he worked for NBC; it seemed like he typically tried to start a controversy by goading/tricking a player into saying something stupid. Realizing it was his job to do so, didn't really give me a good feeling for him.


However, I just saw a, for me, very moving report from Mr. Gray. As he described the events (off camera as the game footage was on screen) of the brawl, I could sort of hear him choke up and he had to hold back some tears. When the camera cut back to him, you could tell he was on the verge of losing it. Normally, you don't see things like this from a reporter. I just wanted to note that, in the wake of this horrible display of sportsmanship, breaking of player/fan trust, and breach of security (where the HELL was security when fans started coming out onto the floor?), Jim Gray proved to me his value as a reporter, his obvious love of the game of basketball, and his 'realness' as a human being.

1. I hope the Detroit police comes down hard on the fans who were involved in this


2. I hope the NBA fines the players who were involved in this; fighting has no place in basketball


3. The management of "The Palace at Auburn Hills" tighten up their security and restructure the arena to prevent fans from having such easy access to players and the playing floor


4. The NBA officials are instructed by the league to start enforcing the rules of the game and put an end to the "Jungle Ball" that has plagued the NBA for the last 10-15 years (ironically started IMHO by the self-proclaimed 'Bad Boys' Pistons teams of the early 90's)

It seems like I want to write more, but I'm not sure what else to say. It's really sad that an event like this had to happen. I hope the people involved are all ok and that something like this NEVER happens again!!!!