Can't We All Just Get Along?

I got up early this morning to catch an Amtrak train to Boston, so instead of my typical morning routine (a quick shower, shave and directly off to work) I got up extra-early to ensure that I wouldn't leave anything to chance timing-wise.  Naturally, I had some extra time before I had to head off to Penn Station and decided to flip on the local news.  I was shocked to see the local sports anchor transition to highlights of a regular season NBA game between Golden State and Indiana, and assumed that an incredible feat of athleticism must have occurred in order to justify such unexpected local media coverage.  I was disappointed to see, however, that the only reason the game made the local New York-area news was because of a fight that broke out between David Lee of the Warriors and Roy Hibbert of the Pacers.

The fight, which threatened to spill into the crowd and potentially put courtside ticket holders in harm's way, is thankfully a rare occurrence in the modern NBA, so based on its rareness you can argue that the additional media coverage is justified.  And while you'd think that the NBA likes the idea of New York residents getting exposed to highlights from a Pacers game - expanding its reach from the SportsCenter crowd and touching a broader audience that potentially includes casual basketball fans - it's not clear if footage of an almost-brawl is good or bad for the league.  While on one hand the increased exposure is great, promoting the fight potentially cheapens the league's brand and might imply that Lee and Hibbert's antics were more entertaining than the game itself.

  The fight between the Warriors and Pacers threatened to spill into the Bankers Life Fieldhouse stands.

As a fan of the NBA and a lover of professional basketball, I'd rather not have seen any highlights from this game than see it covered because of the fight.  The scuffle marred what was otherwise an entertaining game between two of the NBA's better teams (coming into the game both were 10+ games over .500), and takes away from the season-long accomplishments of Hibbert and Lee, two of the league's better big men.  Part of the blame certainly lies with the players, who allowed their emotions to get the best of them and shifted the focus from playing to brawling.  I believe that more of the culpability, however, lies with the fans for showing more interest in video of the fight than in video of the rest of the game.  While I can't blame the media for giving the people what they want, I can blame the people for wanting it.