I always knew that Rick Mahorn was the baddest of the bad boys and a force to be reckoned with during his Detroit Piston days. He was so respected that basketball fans were happy to see him come back as an first as a game announcer for the Pistons and later as an assistant coach for WNBA expansion team the Shock. The Shock met the Sparks yesterday and in the last five seconds of the game Mahorn appeared to come out on the court and push star player Lisa Leslie down onto the court during an altercation involving many of the players from both teams.I don't know what Rick was thinking but it is the consensus among those on the sideline, including Spark coach, Michael Cooper that he was trying to break up the brawl between the players on the court. Lisa Leslie stated that if this was the case he should have went to his players and restrained them. He ended up getting ejected from the game when the dust settled.
This is not the first time Mahorn has been involved in a team related altercation since he left the game as a player. He was also involved in the 2004 Piston-Indiana brawl when he served as a Detroit Piston announcer. At that time is was said to be playing peacemaker by trying to prevent Ron Artest from entering the stands and attacking fans. Do you think Mahorn should be punished for his behavior or was he just trying to help? Read the story here and watch the clip from the game and decide. I am also including a clip of the Mahorn's response to the incident.
5 comments:
I saw the clip on ESPN and Rick didn't do anything wrong. I can't remember exactly what Michael Cooper said in defense of Rick, but it was something along the lines of, "Rick had good intentions, but he's too big". I just hope that the national sports media doesn't fall back on those tired cliches' that this is typical of Detroit and also make references to the Pistons/Pacers brawl a few years ago.
They already have unfortunately (the media that is). Detroit gets such a bad rap when it comes to their basketball play because most people are unable to forget the "Bad Boys" era. It does not help that two of the baddest boys are now coaching the Shock. Rick Mahorn was involved in trying to squash that brawl as well. I don't believe he tried to hurt Leslie. It's unfortunate.
Unfortunately, Detroit gets a bad rap about a lot of things.
You know, I kept playing that over and over, and I'm still missing the push. I don't see it. When does it occur, precisely?
X., I don't think there was really a push, at least not in the sense that we know it. What most likely happened is he went to corral her and she pushed off and fell. Sometimes it is better for coaches to remain off the floor and let the players deal with it. I saw Cheryl Ford grabbing her teammate. This has been blown way out of proportion and it gives the whole city a bad name. Detroit is wonderful city.
Mahorn always was a toughie...
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