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NBA FANS STILL MIFFED ABOUT PHOENIX SUNS PLAYOFF SUSPENSIONS
CHARLESTON, SC – July 19, 2007 -- The flagrant foul by Robert Horry of the NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs against the Phoenix Suns' Steve Nash in game four of the western conference semifinals remains a hot issue in the minds of professional basketball fans across the country, according to a survey by America’s Research Group.
With 18 seconds remaining and the Suns ahead 100-97, Horry fouled Nash with his forearm as Nash brought the ball up the sidelines. Nash crashed against the scorer’s table and onto the floor of San Antonio’s A&T Center in the May 14th game. Phoenix went on to win the game 104-98 in what would turn out to be their last victory of the year. San Antonio won the next two games to close out the conference championship series and went on to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers to take the NBA championship in four straight games.
Following the melee after the hard foul, Horry was ejected from the game and given a two-game suspension by the league. Suns players Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw were suspended for game five of the series for leaving the bench. Spurs powerhouse Tim Duncan also jumped up off the San Antonio bench but was not suspended for future games.
Even six weeks later, NBA followers remained upset about the handling of the situation. Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed felt the suspensions of Stoudemire and Diaw were unfair while only 34.2 percent of those who saw the game saw the decision as fair. Even more fans, 80.2 percent, felt that Tim Duncan should have been suspended for his actions.
In analyzing the results, Britt Beemer, an Orlando resident and chairman of America’s Research Group, cautions that "The NBA Commissioner’s office needs to be very careful to not create the impression they showed favorites, or they will drive fans away in the future."
The nationwide survey consisted of 1,000 telephone interviews conducted July 5-8, 2007. The margin of error is +/- 4.3 percent.
The survey was conducted at America’s research Group’s headquarters in Charleston, South Carolina.