Sports Stars Aren’t Immune

For all the debate about the Golden State Warriors’ decision to fire Latrell Sprewell for assaulting his coach, let us remember there was a time when even celebrity athletes were held accountable for their misdeeds. We forget because of the recent coddling of multimillion-dollar sports celebrities and the indulgence of their spoiled-brat tantrums. Take baseball’s Roberto Alomar, who spit in the face of an umpire and got only a hand-slap, a delayed suspension. Or basketball’s Dennis Rodman, merely fined for butting a referee.

Sprewell’s offense goes well beyond these. The player has admitted making two attacks--and one death threat--against Oakland coach P.J. Carlesimo after the coach asked him to leave a practice Monday. Sprewell, who has had a string of recent discipline problems, says he didn’t like his coach’s criticism over the last month--he called it verbal abuse.

He is the first National Basketball Assn. player fired for what was termed insubordination. Sprewell apologized to fans, family and friends but not to Carlesimo. On Thursday the NBA correctly suspended him for a year, and his largest commercial sponsor dropped him.

Run-ins with coaches are as old as professional sports. On Aug. 29, 1925, in St. Louis, New York Yankee manager Miller Huggins was waiting in the locker room for Babe Ruth to show up for a game. All season, the famed slugger had violated curfew rules. When Ruth came in, late as usual, Huggins said: “Don’t bother getting dressed, Babe. You’re not playing today.” Ruth was suspended and fined $5,000 of his annual $52,000 salary. Ruth replied with a string of expletives, but no fists.

Nine days later, Huggins made Ruth apologize to him in front of the whole Yankee team. The story was news in almost every paper in the country. Sprewell’s story is big news too, and it’s high time for the message inherent in that story. No ordinary working stiff could keep his job after assaulting his boss. Why should someone who plays sports for a living be different?