Someday, someone is going to have to put the NBA's pathetic, graceless fall from pre-eminence to paper. When they do, they're going to want to know how to spell John Feerick's name.
Feerick, the story will mention with a certain irony, never played in the NBA. He never scored a point, never coached a minute, never made a trade, never broke a sweat.He was an arbitrator and what he did, the story will conclude sadly, was help put the finishing touches on the moral collapse of professional basketball. Entrusted with the case of Latrell Sprewell at a time of upheaval and crisis, Feerick ruled that in the National Basketball Association, it is absolutely, positively OK to rain choke-holds and haymakers upon your boss.
From a distance, Feerick's decision - reducing Sprewell's NBA suspension from one year to seven months and reinstating the final two years of Sprewell's Warriors contract - might look reasoned and just. Sprewell's loss of $6.4 million in salary may even seem harsh.
The story of the NBA's demise, hopefully, will place Feerick's two-headed decision in the proper context. Presented properly, it will show how Fee-rick contributed to - even validated - an unappealing league-wide climate consisting of at least five of the seven vices.
Feerick, it should be noted, will have plenty of company in this disturbing chronicle. He will be joined by owners who priced the mainstream fan out of the sport with publicly subsidized arenas. He will be joined by Charles Barkley, symbolic of the superstar-as-black eye waiting to happen.
He will be joined by the likes of Rony Seikaly and Kenny Anderson, who put themselves above the game by refusing to report to teams to which they had been traded. He will be joined by the likes of Shaquille O'Neal, who cheated the game by failing to give it his full attention.
Feerick will be joined by agents, who do what agents do, and by the teenage-ization of the game, which filled the NBA with confused young men who weren't ready for the indulgent professional lifestyle. And he will be joined by players association president Billy Hunter, who crowed that Feerick's decision to reinstate Sprewell's employment with the Warriors "preserves the sanctity of the guaranteed contract."
Hopefully, at this point the story of the NBA's demise will wonder about the sanctity of unrestricted breathing and freedom from criminal attack. Perhaps the story will recall the NBA's golden era, which featured the unselfish play and law-abiding accountability of Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan, and contrast it with Sprewell's consistently insubordinate behavior during his time with the Warriors.
History may even give a tip of the hat to NBA commissioner David Stern and his first demonstration of spine in recent memory. "The fundamental point is whether you can choke your boss and still hold your job," Stern said, "and the answer is now well-established. You cannot choke your boss and hold your job unless you play in the NBA and you're subject to arbitrator service jurisdiction."
History may have some fun with the phrase "moral turpitude." That phrase is contained in standard NBA contracts; teams have the right to fire players who demonstrate such behavior.
Sprewell, Feerick concluded, did not demonstrate moral turpitude when he attempted to choke the life out of Warriors coach P.J. Carlesimo, nor when he left the Warriors practice floor, thought it over for 15 minutes, then returned and charged through teammates and assistant coaches and attempted to punch Carlesimo.
As for what does constitute an act of moral turpitude, "I'm going to have to give you Feerick's number and let him answer that," Stern said. "I don't mean to be a wise guy.'
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
NBA players, coaches comment on Sprewell ruling
League reaction to arbitrator John Feerick's ruling that reinstates Latrell Sprewell's contract with the Golden State Warriors and cuts his NBA suspension by five months:
- "I though our organization made a statement of what they think is acceptable behavior, and the league supported that. To have that set aside is disappointing. At the same time, to get a resolution to this is great. It's good for Spree and that's fine." - Warrior coach P.J. Carlesimo
- "The fundamental point is whether you can choke your boss and still hold your job, and the answer is now well established." - NBA Commissioner David Stern
- "I'm just glad he gets an opportunity to come back and play. He got his suspension. You do your time, and he comes back and plays now and can just do what's best for his famiy." - Detroit forward Rick Mahorn
- "The evidence indicates there is no history of both the league and a team imposing discipline for the same violent conduct, on or off the court. This speaks to the issue of fairness, as I see it." - Arbitrator John Feerick
- "We are happy Latrell has his contract back. As playing basketball is one of the great joys in Latrell's life, we are disappointed that he will not be able to resume his NBA career until July 1." - Sprewell's agent Arn Tellem
- "It kind of turns my stomach a little bit. I think we're forgetting the severity of the act. But the truth right now is that it's probably better for everybody to move on. Let the decision stand, and hopefully let it be a wake-up call to players, coaches and the league." - Seattle coach George Karl
- "We don't condone what happened. . . . We're going to live by the decision, and we're going to go forward. We do understand we are member of the NBA family and we have to live within the guidelines set forth." - Golden State general manager Garry St. Jean
- "I don't think they would bring back P.J. and Sprewell back together at the same time." - Warriors forward Donyell Marshall
- "NBA contracts are guaranteed even if you die. NBA contracts are guaranteed no matter what you do." - Boston center Popeye Jones
- "Half the people are going to love it and half the people are going to hate it. Obviously, it wasn't good for the league. We'll just see how bad it is in the league's mind when July 1 comes around. As soon as one team kicks you out the door, there's going to be another team looking for you." - Utah Jazz forward Greg Foster
- "In a real world situation, if an employee hits his boss, nine times out of 10 he won't be reinstated." - Lakers center Shaqquille O'Neal