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January 19, 2006
Knicks' Davis enters stands out of concern for wife
Concerned his wife was in trouble, the New York Knicks forward reached her in the seats but remained calm, never took a swing at anybody and willingly walked away when security arrived.Still the scene evoked memories of last season's brawl between fans and Pacers players in Detroit and overshadowed a thrilling finish to a wild game.
Ben Gordon hit a jumper at the buzzer and scored 32 points Wednesday night to give the Chicago Bulls a 106-104 overtime victory over the Knicks.
Davis later explained why he climbed into the seats during a timeout in overtime.
"I witnessed my wife being threatened by a man that I learned later to be intoxicated," Davis said in a statement issued after the game. "I saw him touch her, and I know I should not have acted the way I did, but I would have felt terrible if I didn't react. There was no time to call security. It happened too quickly."
Davis ascended about 10 rows of seats to reach his wife. There was no physical confrontation after he got there, but several people were pointing and shouting for a few moments before security arrived.
Davis, president of the NBA players' association, returned to the bench and took his seat before being ejected with 1:04 left.
United Center security remained in the stands for a few minutes more, where other fans appeared to be explaining what they had seen. Guards in suits and yellow jackets then escorted a group of people from the area.
Knicks coach Larry Brown said Davis went into the stands because he saw his wife "falling back."
Brown was coaching the Pistons during the November 2004 brawl in Detroit. A black eye for the NBA, the fight led to criminal charges and lengthy suspensions for Ron Artest, Jermaine O'Neal and Stephen Jackson.
But Brown was adamant that this situation should be viewed differently.
"Come on, that's his wife," Brown said. "That's entirely different. I was worried about Kendra. That's why he went in the stands, he saw her falling back.
"That thing that happened in the stands had nothing to do with the two teams. That's a man concerned about his family."
And rightly so. Trust me if someone was messing with me Jamison would have been there and had the guy laid out on the ground before anyone could move. That's just what good husbands do. This guy was completely within the boundaries of decency here. He was just standing up for his wife. It's nice to see a decent guy in the sporting world for a change, instead of the TAPs that usually make the news.
Found via Yahoo! News.
Posted by Daffodil at January 19, 2006 3:27 PM
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