Unless you live under a rock or don’t check Twitter, you’ve heard of the potential kerfuffle that threatened to derail Monday night’s basketball game between the New York Knicks and the Boston Celtics. Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Garnett were trash-talking on the court, an age-old tradition in both street and professional basketball that is frowned upon but rarely turns physical. During the back-and-forth, it’s rumored that Kevin told Carmelo “your wife tastes like Honey Nut Cheerios,” and that’s when things went awry.
After the game, Carmelo Anthony is seen, flanked by the NYPD and his team’s coach, waiting outside the Boston Celtics van for Kevin Garnett to emerge. As Twitter and gossip blogs tell it, Carmelo was implementing the classic “I’ll see you afterschool by your locker” tactic to avenge his wife’s honor. Some people even pointed out Carmelo’s attire — a skully and Timberland boots — as proof that he was there to stir up trouble and possibly start a fight.
The truth is Carmelo’s intentions, and Kevin’s “Cheerios” comment, are pure speculation. We can surmise and come to our own conclusions about the scenario all day long, but there’s no proof that Garnett taunted Carmelo about Lala or that Carmelo was waiting to fight.
Some feel because of that lack of concrete evidence, Carmelo should not be punished. But the NBA disagrees.
Via The YBF:
NBA EVP of basketball operations Stu Jackson said about the suspension today: “There are no circumstances in which it is acceptable for a player to confront an opponent after a game. Carmelo Anthony attempted to engage with Kevin Garnett multiple times after Monday’s game and therefore a suspension was warranted.”
Anthony will miss the Knicks’ nationally televised game at Indiana on Thursday and lose about $176,700 of his $19.4 million salary.
The suspension comes as a surprise to Carmelo Anthony at least. He is quoted as saying: “If you just go off the actual facts of what happened, I don’t think anything will happen.”
He also claims he just wanted to have a conversation with Kevin: “I wanted to talk to KG [outside his bus]. I think it was something we both needed to get off our chest and see what really the problem was. No altercations, it was just some words and a conversation that we needed to have.”