Preferential treatment for LeBron James

It is not good for the credibility of the league that the aggressor, whatever his name is, is penalized with a different criterion than the attacked.

It is a bit obvious when the name of Lebron and the word star, because he’s the face of basketball, but the NBA was too benevolent with number 6 of Los Lakers by giving him a single game of punishment for the row between his team and the Pistons, which ended with an expulsion from each side.

Here there are two things that seem to me to be a counter-sense in the decision, the first is that the player who started everything with a punch, Lebron James, was the one who received the least sanction, and the other than the player who was the victim of the aggression and did not throw a single blow, Isaiah Stewart, it took two games.

It is not for playing devil’s advocate, because it is clear that Stewart’s bulldozer attitude is not admissible on a court, but if we go to the facts that are what should count to take disciplinary action, he did not even reach to raise his fist, rather he ran like a beast everywhere, but never managed to face anyone.

Again, Lebron James He was the only one who threw a blow that night and, although it is natural to think that he did not aim at the face of Stewart Because he has never been a malicious player, it is indisputable that he did seek to make contact with some part of his opponent’s body, probably the chest, because his movement does not correspond either in strength or in the direction of one related to the search for the ball.

But do not believe my criteria and we better appeal to jurisprudence to resolve why Lebron James received preferential treatment from the NBA, just flip six seasons back to the first round of the 2015 playoffs, when JR Smith gave an almost identical punch to Jae Crowder And he had to swallow two penalty games, yes, two in the playoffs, which should have laid a foundation for what was decided this week.

If they do not agree, it is because they did not click on the video, the actions are ridiculously similar, even in the fact that Lebron James He witnessed the blow of his then Cavaliers teammate a few meters away, with the only difference that Crowder took it with much more philosophy than Isaiah Stewart.

It is not good for the credibility of the league for the aggressor, whatever his name is called, to be penalized with a different criterion than the attacked, so I believe that the ideal would have been to give two games to both and not lead to the idea – perhaps justified – that the most powerful teams and their stars are protected by the central office NBA.

Something good has this story and it is that with the sanctions fulfilled, Isaiah Stewart and Lebron James They will meet again this Sunday in Los Angeles, an irony of the calendar that will give the Pistons a rematch of playing a game against vulnerable Lakers at this point in the campaign. I do not want blows, but I do want a surprise on the scoreboard.