Around the NBA: Latest string of ejections should call for change in league’s policy

As a player in the NBA, getting passionate about your team on the court has always been a part of the game.

 

Showing your true colors and not agreeing with a referee's call is something that has been going on for generations.

 

Every once in a while, you'll see players and refs butt heads and sometimes get (gasp) thrown out of the game.

 

But it's a once in a while occurence.

 

In the last two weeks, the NBA has seen some of the worst discipline out of its players and there have been more ejections than I can count on one hand.

 

What is the deal with some of these players? Why do players feel a need to get up in a ref's business just to prove a point that may or may not be correct?

 

Fines of $25k on a millionaire and a one-game suspension are great, but when will the NBA realize that this isn't helping stop put an end to this issue.

 

I love a good trash talk session from time to time, but when a superstar gets ejected once—and sometimes twice—we got ourselves a real problem.

 

The NBA is unique from other major sports leagues in the United States in that basketball players market themselves better than anyone else. What kind of standard are these superstars setting when they get themselves in fights with other players and the people who are in charge of maintaining a game?

 

Is it really all that good for the sport if players like LeBron James and Kevin Durant, two major faces that children look up to, are getting ejected for arguing?

 

Probably not, but it is something that definitely needs to be addressed.

 

Getting into the situations themselves, the NBA has seen multiple players get themselves thrown out of the game over the last two weeks.

 

Weirdly enough, it all started with LeBron, who got himself an ejection on November 29, the first of his 15-year career for arguing with the referee over a foul, getting assessed with a technical foul and eventually getting tossed.

 

Steph Curry, Shaun Livingston, Draymond Green, Bradley Beal, and DeMarcus Cousins have all found themselves heading to the showers early due to an ejection. Livingston even made contact with ref Courtney Kirkland, a big no-no. Kirkland also found himself with a one-week suspension after he physically butt heads with Livingston.

 

Perhaps the most notable name aside from LeBron that has gotten ejected this year is Kevin Durant, who has not one, not two, but three (!!!) ejections in a span of 18 games.

 

Durant, who left Oklahoma City for Golden State last year was already considered by many to be one of the biggest villains in the league, and he went out of his way to prove it even more with his physicality and aggression towards NBA officials.

 

At this rate, Bobby Cox better be fearful of being surpassed for his ejection record.

 

But what can be done to limit these ejections?

 

I honestly think there needs to be stricter rules in place to provide some kind of larger consequence than a fine or a one-game suspension.

 

This example is extreme, but Ron Artest was suspended for the rest of the season (73 games) for his role in the "Malice at the Palace" in 2004, after he fought with fans in the stands.

 

While Durant, Livingston, and others aren't exactly fighting with fans, they are fighting with the people that are supposed to be keeping the peace in NBA games.

 

Sometimes, letting things go is the right thing to do, especially in a situation that you can't control. 

 

I'm all for keeping the fines in place, but I really think that a one-game suspension, sometimes two, is too lenient for some of these situations. A first time offender might only get one game, but after the second and third offense, maybe it's time to think about suspending a player for a week's worth of games, something that could hurt a team, in order to get the point across.

 

Like I said earlier, a disagreement every once in a while is normal, but almost every night is most certainly not.

 

There are millions of eyes on the games every single day, and players, especially well known ones, getting ejected is not the look the league should be getting.