Breaking news: Lakers disqualified, Suns in playoffs.
The Associated Press -- Kobe Bryant must not have imagined this when he elbowed Ron Artest in the throat last night.
The NBA has taken drastic measures today, disqualifying the Los Angeles Lakers from the NBA playoffs for "unsportsmanship actions and behaviours detrimental to the NBA".
"By disqualifying the Lakers from the playoffs, we hope to send the message that any act of violence in an NBA game will not be tolerated", David Stern said in a statement. "Behaviours such as bodyslamming another player, flinging high elbows and messing with Ron Artest are certainly not acceptable".
To maintain the continuity of the playoffs, the NBA has decided that the Phoenix Suns, owner of the best record among non-playoff teams, will take the Lakers' place in the playoff bracket. They will play a best-of-five series with the Houston Rockets, with the winner advancing to the Western Conference Finals.
The sudden arrangement certainly took many Suns players by surprise. Steve Nash who is in Hawaii and had been doing nothing but updating his Facebook group, said that he is scrambling to book flight tickets to Houston and is doubtful for Game 1. Jason Richardson is in Michigan and had told the team that he would "drive as fast as I can" to Houston after dealing with an emergency in his family.
Despite the long layoff and a lack of preparation, some of the Suns players still appear confident going into the series. Amar'e Stoudamire, who missed the last 7 weeks of the regular season due to an eye injury, said that he has recovered and could give the Suns' already-potent offense a big boost. Center Shaquille O'Neal, who recently announced on Twitter that he cheated on his diet and ate the Jolly Green Giant for supper, posted another Tweet today comparing Houston center Yao Ming to General Tso's chicken.
Although it was unprecedented for the NBA to disqualify a team during the playoffs, the move was not unexpected. TV ratings of Lakers games had been dipping faster than Sasha Vuijvicivicicjvic reacts to foul calls, and there were rumours that the league wanted to win back its audiences by replacing the unpopular Lakers with the Suns, which plays an up-tempo style that's friendly to the casual fans.
Game 1 is in Friday night in Houston
1 recs |
12 comments
|
Comments
Tell me now....
Where did you get those mushrooms?
April 29, 2008 Total Eclipse of the Sun. Is the sky falling?
This is my ultimate fantasy
forget Jessica Biel in a hot tub. I’m sorry Jessica… I love the Suns.
"Basketball doesn't build character. It reveals it"
ooh, i don't know about that...
i think these two are on about the same level of fantasy awesomeness.
by iamtrevorpaxton on May 9, 2009 1:30 PM MDT up reply actions
Jessica Biel's not a bad choice at all,
but it’s all about Eva Mendez my friend.
Aprende epsañol y esto tendra mas sentido para ti.
Eva is fine
but I have the ultimate crush on Jessica Biel! Still, if God made you choose between the Suns winning the NBA finals and dating Eva or Jessica…what would you do amigo?
"Basketball doesn't build character. It reveals it"
Man that's tough.
But I’m a sentimental fool, so I guess I would have to go with Los Suns. I’m openly weeping with regret as I type this btw.
Aprende epsañol y esto tendra mas sentido para ti.
General Tso's chicken.....
hmmmm…..
"True glory consists of doing what deserves to be written, and writing what deserves to be read".
Lol, that Yao analogy is so wrong.....
Now everyone wants a piece of him??!!!
Yay, we’re in the playoffs!! Suns in 5!
Hmm...
I was expecting some condescending comments from the LA folks but I guess they don’t troll around here, which is really nice. I hate their team as much as I love the Suns.
And Mr. General Tso’s chicken is out for the season. I hope I didn’t have anything to do with that.
With the 14th pick of the 2009 NBA draft, the Pheonix Suns select... 3 million dollars!

by 
















