Wrong Tim

Funny how my perception changes THAT quickly.

When Tim Duncan of San Antonio Spurs was ejected by referee Joey Crawford for "laughing" on April 15, I wanted to write a piece of how well-behaved Duncan has always been and how crazy that ejection was.

I was only half correct.

David Stern, NBA's Commissioner, decided to suspend Crawford for the rest of the playoff, but also slapped Duncan with a hefty fine for his provocative speech against the veteran referee.

Ever since being drafted by the San Antonio Spurs as the first overall pick in 1997, Duncan has earned the reputation of being one of the most down-to-earth players in the league.

But after the fine had been handed down, I started to notice criticisms about him being a whiner and him frequently drawing the ire of referees for his sarcastic demeanor. Eventually, I realised that I wouldn't want to play or referee against him, as his nonchalance (not to mention his dominance in the low post) can easily make me angry and frustrated.

A month later, during the Western Conference semi-final, Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw, two key members of the Phoenix Suns, was suspended for one game. Their crime? Leaving the bench area (but did nothing else) during an altercation, which was started by Spurs' reserve forward Robert Horry who took yet another cheap shot on the Suns' feisty and battered Steve Nash, in the final meaningless seconds of their blow-out loss against the Suns. The irony is, had the two players remained in the bench area, their view would have been blocked and they would have no way to see whether Nash, who had been bruised, flattened and even kneed in the groin by Spurs' forward Bruce Bowen during the series, was okay.

Many cried foul over Stoudemire and Diaw's suspension, saying that Duncan should also be suspended for leaving the bench area during a more-than-physical play earlier in the game. The NBA, however, said Duncan would not be suspended, as that play in question was not an "altercation".

While Horry was suspended for two games, his absence as a reserve player can never be compared with the colossal absence of Stoudemire and Diaw, two of most important players of the Suns. Duncan then promptly led the Spurs to beat the Suns the very next game, and went on to advance to the Western Conference final.

Sorry Tim. I was an admirer of you not that long ago, but now I just have to root against you.