NBA Commissioner David Stern wants NBA players to "leave guns at home"...

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

NBA's Stern is off target on guns

J.A. Adande
October 26, 2006

Certain headlines scream out for further comment, and this is one: "Stern wants NBA players to leave guns at home."

Man, I love this league. Only in the NBA could the commissioner go from defending the widely criticized new ball to criticizing the players' right to defend themselves. Actually, given the angry reaction to the synthetic leather basketballs, maybe the logical next step for David Stern was to get guns out of the players' hands. You know, in case things escalate.

The gun issue became a topic during Stern's conference call with NBA reporters Wednesday. That's the type of subject that can pop up in an exhibition season in which the Indiana Pacers' Stephen Jackson fired five shots in the air after an altercation at a strip club and the Boston Celtics' Sebastian Telfair was questioned in connection with the shooting of a rapper.

Stern can't stop players from owning guns, but he indicated he'd like to keep them from carrying them.

"I would favor being able to have a firearm to protect your home. Period," Stern said. "I don't think it's necessary to walk the streets with a gun…. It's a pretty widely accepted stat that if you carry a gun, your chances of being shot by one increase dramatically."

Stern can't start legislating players' personal lives without the consent of the National Basketball Players Assn. And the union's Dan Wasserman sounded as if they already had gone far enough when he told the Associated Press that during last year's labor negotiations, "a provision was added to the collective bargaining agreement that subjects the players to discipline if they bring any kind of firearm, even if it's licensed, to an NBA arena, practice facility, or even a team or league off-site promotional appearance."

Promotional appearances? Did they really have incidents of players bringing guns to Habitat for Humanity events?

I've never been a gun guy and don't see the need to own or carry one. But I also don't see why Stern seems more adamant about the league's image than the actual product. I wish he'd use his energy and his power to keep the old leather basketball instead of the new synthetic composite, which has been panned by everyone except the NBA and Spalding. The balls, unlike guns, could affect the quality of play.

And when it comes to legislating behavior, I wish he'd be as consistent with the rest of the league's employees as he is with players. Over the years, the general public's safety has been threatened just as much — if not more — by coaches driving drunk as by players carrying guns. The latest to exceed state blood-alcohol content levels while behind the wheel was Sacramento's Eric Musselman, but I haven't heard the commissioner's office react to that one.

Carrying guns is one of those Things That Only Seem Bad When NBA Players Are Doing It. You know, like going from high school straight to the pros. Fine for baseball, hockey, tennis and golf, but a danger to our society when it involves basketball.

The New Jersey Nets' Richard Jefferson pointed out the double standard when he dealt the Dick Cheney card to the Newark Star-Ledger.

"Shoot, our vice president shot somebody in the face," Jefferson said in the aftermath of the Jackson incident. "A dude gets punched in the face and fires off shots and all of a sudden it's, 'What's an athlete's things with guns?' Shoot, people go on hunting trips with semi-automatic weapons. Is there a need to take an AK-47 to shoot deer? Which one is worse?"

Next time you're driving around town keep an eye out for how prominently guns are featured in the billboards for the new James Bond movie, "Casino Royale." The gun has always been part of the whole Bond image: tuxedo, martini (shaken, not stirred), Walther PPK. A gun is even incorporated into the 007 logo. What kind of message does that send to our kids?

Granted, there are certain things that can only happen in the NBA, such as the time in February when Telfair tried to take a loaded gun in a pillowcase aboard a team plane. The best part was his explanation: the gun belonged to his girlfriend, and Telfair had grabbed the wrong bag. On second thought, the best part was that at least part of the story checked out: the gun was registered to his longtime girlfriend. (If my girlfriend kept a gun in a pillowcase, she'd be my ex-girlfriend. That's a little too Sharon Stone-Basic Instinct.)

There's a recent tragic incident that proves Stern both right and wrong. In 2002, the recently retired Jayson Williams was accused of manslaughter in the shooting death of a limousine driver in Williams' home. There were no hostilities, just an awful result from horseplay, a case in which mere gun ownership wound up costing a life. (A jury found Williams not guilty of the most serious charge of aggravated manslaughter but deadlocked on a charge of reckless manslaughter.)

The thing was, Williams wasn't one of the hip-hoppers in baggy jeans and cornrows that Stern gnashes his teeth over. He was the type of person the NBA liked to promote, a bright, humorous guy who had transitioned to a member of NBC's studio show. And while other players ignored their offspring, he took responsibility for the children of his deceased sisters.

It goes to show that you can't predict what people will do, just as you can't control them. So you definitely shouldn't step across constitutional boundaries to restrain them.




LOL...What a dumbass. He's starting to make it very obvious that he racistly wants the league to veer away from it's "hip-hop image"...

[rik]

It's official I now hate this cock sucker.

[I Am The Anton]

Why would you be mad at this? These NBA players are fucking morons and can't keep out of trouble with someone holding their hand telling them what not to do. The whole hip hop thug mentality is fucking retarded and you don't need a fucking gun to walk down the god damn street, and you're fucking retarded if you think you do. What baseball,hockey,golf, or tennis players have trouble understanding that its not really a bright idea to carry/fire guns in public? This type of shit is a NBA/NFL problem, and the fact that its black players doing this STUPID shit makes everyone go OMG HES RACIST. Well people that say that are fucking morons, as well as the people doing this shit.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

^^Dude, don't you think that deep down inside David Stern has a hatred for blacks ruling his league?...Why do you think he's more excited over this Euroleague shit than anyone else, to the point where he's promoting them more than they do themselves? Steve Nash, 2x MVP? It's not whether or not the players should have a gun on them, it's the fact that it's their right to protect themselves (regardless of what you wanna call it) as a human being, and that right can't be stripped by some dude who's tryna remove the "blackness" from his league...It's not that big of a deal, but it's pretty self-evident that this muthafucka is taking shit a step too far...PeACe

[everlast1986]

"David Stern wants NBA players to "leave guns at home"..."

ya fuckin think?

[I Am The Anton]

^^Dude, don't you think that deep down inside David Stern has a hatred for blacks ruling his league?...Why do you think he's more excited over this Euroleague shit than anyone else, to the point where he's promoting them more than they do themselves? Steve Nash, 2x MVP? It's not whether or not the players should have a gun on them, it's the fact that it's their right to protect themselves (regardless of what you wanna call it) as a human being, and that right can't be stripped by some dude who's tryna remove the "blackness" from his league...It's not that big of a deal, but it's pretty self-evident that this muthafucka is taking shit a step too far...PeACe

Its always made a big deal of when a league expands to other countries to try to bring in a new audience.

But what are they protecting themselves from? What was Stephen Jackson protecting himself from when he shot his gun into the air? A fucking bat? Chances are if he had shot at whoever he was having a problem with at that club he would have hit some innocent by stander. IMO the only people that should have guns outside of their own homes are on-duty cops. If that was the case, there would be nothing for anyone to have to "protect" themselves from. That said, I don't believe there is anything that you need to protect yourself from that warrants a gun being on you at all times. Most things can be handled with words or fists, no guns needed. And if guns are needed, these guys need to surround themselves with different people.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

^^How do you know if that gun didn't save Stephen Jackson's life? Apparently, some dude was attempting to run him over, shooting a gun into the air at that point can scare the attacker (assuming Jackson was the victim, which he claimed)...That's not the point though. are you against guns? Either you are or aren't...I'm not. With that being said, someone as big as a professional NBA player BEST be keeping a gun on themselves... do you realize how many assholes out there start shit with them just because of who they are? Lamar Odom was robbed at gun-point this summer, do you think that would've happened had Odom been strapped? I don't...I think it's a human's right to make their own decision regarding whether or not they want to keep themselves protected...It's one thing to control what's going on in the game, but when you start bringing your "rules" off the court and actually changing these peoples lives against their will just because you're their "boss", that's when shit starts getting out of hand...PeACe

[Don Jacob]

so being 'black' means you have to carry around guns?

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

so being 'black' means you have to carry around guns?

No, but people portray blacks as "thugs" who "always carry guns".

[Don Jacob]

so by getting rid of the guns, don't you think he's doing them more of a service

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

^^How so? I just posted how a gun could save someones life...

[TuSlic]

Most things can be handled with words or fists, no guns needed. And if guns are needed, these guys need to surround themselves with different people.

what world do you live in?  Nobody fights anymore.

[I Am The Anton]

^^How do you know if that gun didn't save Stephen Jackson's life? Apparently, some dude was attempting to run him over, shooting a gun into the air at that point can scare the attacker (assuming Jackson was the victim, which he claimed)...That's not the point though. are you against guns? Either you are or aren't...I'm not. With that being said, someone as big as a professional NBA player BEST be keeping a gun on themselves... do you realize how many assholes out there start shit with them just because of who they are? Lamar Odom was robbed at gun-point this summer, do you think that would've happened had Odom been strapped? I don't...I think it's a human's right to make their own decision regarding whether or not they want to keep themselves protected...It's one thing to control what's going on in the game, but when you start bringing your "rules" off the court and actually changing these peoples lives against their will just because you're their "boss", that's when shit starts getting out of hand...PeACe

You act as if you would have your gun in hand (literally) at all  times. If someone pulls out a gun and says give me all your money, you're not gonna reach for your gun, they would see the gun and proceed to kill you. From what I took from the police report the car was already by Jackson, not coming at him, when Jackson started firing.

And no it isn't you're either for or against guns, i've already stated what I believe. I believe that only on duty police officers should be allowed to carry a gun on them in public. I also believe that you should be able to have a gun at your house to protect your home (if someone breaks in its much safer to be firing a gun in your house than in the middle of the street). But if out of no where guns were banned and only cops carried them, i'd be fine with that too.

[Citizen-Y]

He's not telling them they can't have guns nor is he passing a rule saying they can't have guns which would be unconstitutional.

NIK, keep reaching and saying David Stern is a racist.

[Antonio_]

Blame America if you guys need to walk with a gun for security. Here in Italy NOBODY does.