From Deseret News archives:
'Catfight' costs Snyder, Stack
The NBA on Monday suspended both Jazz rookie guard Snyder and Dallas Mavericks veteran guard Stackhouse for one game without pay as punishment for their post-game fight two nights earlier at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
The suspension will cost Snyder $14,855 from his $1.33 million pay for this season. Stackhouse, who makes $7.44 million, will lose $82,639.
Even before the NBA acted, the Mavs decided they would discipline Stackhouse by suspending him for Monday night's game against Memphis.
The Jazz, however, don't think Snyder deserves admonishment.
"We felt that, based on everything we listened to . . . that for Kirk it was a non-punishable offense," said Kevin O'Connor, the Jazz's senior vice president for basketball operations.
"When we looked at the situation after everything, we decided we were not going to take any action (internally) against Kirk Snyder."
O'Connor added, "The league obviously felt differently."
Mavericks coach Avery Johnson, following on the heels on Mavs owner Mark Cuban, downplayed the incident's magnitude, telling the Associated Press it was "not like a real fight — they were just hugging each other."
Cuban earlier told Dallas reporters it was "a catfight."
Still, in light of heavy fines and suspensions for multiple members of the Indiana Pacers following their fight in the stands with Detroit Pistons fans earlier this season — and considering a few fans supposedly witnessed Saturday's tussle — it's possible Monday's discipline could have been more heavy-handed.
In this instance, however, no videotape of the altercation has been made public. Investigators from the NBA's security department undoubtedly got two sides to the same story.
Perhaps the league just wanted to sweep this one under the rug.
Regardless, the Jazz think Snyder got swept up in someone else's misdeed. Though there is no formal appeal, they seem to feel Snyder was a victim of Stackhouse — not an instigator.
The Jazz also wonder why security for one of their players wasn't better at the arena, since Snyder was not escorted to the bus.
According to various witness accounts, Stackhouse waited for Snyder in the parking area for the Jazz bus. A fight — lasting about 40 seconds according to multiple reports, or only about 10 seconds according to Stackhouse — broke out between the two, and ended only after Snyder hit the concrete floor. Snyder was said to be bleeding, but on Monday he suggested otherwise; Stackhouse, who initially claimed he was merely defending himself, said his neck was scratched.
