NBA Reviewing Dampier’s Comments

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ESPN.com has confirmed that the NBA is looking into the comments Erick Dampier made after Game Two. If punished, Dampier is most likely to receive a fine (a suspension strikes me as far too severe a reaction). Personally, I couldn’t care whether he gets fined or not: The increased attention he will receive from the referees in Game Three will be punishment enough.

  • rocko.texas

    I don’t care about the fine either, and Tony has shown he is not bothered by getting knocked around in the paint. However, I do think a fine is warranted. If someone can be fined for criticizing a ref, then why not for essentially saying he is going to flagrantly foul another player?

    Dampier has really backed himself into a corner by making these comments publicly. As you mentioned, any hard foul on Tony will be looked at with heightened scrutiny. On the other hand, if Tony calls Dampier’s bluff and there is no hard foul, then it looks like Dampier is just posturing. Based on the timing of his comments (i.e. after the fact, as opposed to playing physical during Game 2), I think the latter is already the case.

  • BC

    A classic case of keep your mouth shut. Don’t talk about it, do it!
    Dampier might have just hamstrung the Mavs defense with this added scrutiny.

  • Will

    The only thing I’m afraid of is a really hard foul that would actually injure Parker. The consequences for the Spurs would be very bad, obviously, since the playoffs hopes cling to Parker’s health more than anything right now. But I wonder what the consequences would be for Dallas – I think the league just doesn’t want to deal with that, so I expect a pre-emptive strike from the league.

  • ThatBigGuy

    Barring bad shooting on our part and great shooting on theirs, I think we win this game. Parker will get every call because of this. BC says the Mavs defense will be “hamstrung”; I agree, great descriptive word. Parker already owns the paint, now he’s going to get 50. Dampier really just screwed his team over for the next two games because the Mavs will not enjoy the benefit of getting calls at home.

    My dad always said, “Never give the other team a reason to beat you; play the game with poise and you will be poised to win.”

  • SpurredOn

    I hope the league does not fine Dampier; a suspension would be silly, like in Minority Report, arrested for a crime you’ve yet to commit. Either of those makes him a martyr and feeds the ignorant “Stern loves the Spurs” conspiracy theorists. All this would do is pump up the Mavs and their crowd.

    He certainly earned a behind the scenes verbal warning, telling him that such behavior will not only lead to a possible ejection but suspension. This isn’t the ’80s; the league knows if he takes out Tony and the Spurs respond by taking out Terry, this all goes downhill and the NBA product suffers.

    What I like about this is it falls in line with what Rocko posted. If a league warning turns Damp into a passive defender then not only does Tony score at the rim, it makes Damp look like a wimp to everyone in that arena. If Tony goes off for 45 in a win, everyone blames Damp for opening his mouth and further motivating the guy they already can’t stop. If, however, he chooses to take a cheap shot, it’s bye-bye Dampier and here comes a pissed-off Spurs team.

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