NBA’s Problems on the Court and in the Stands

Re “The NBA Shouldn’t Back Off,” editorial, Nov. 23: I have attended many games where fans became unruly. Security was there within seconds, usually ejecting them immediately.

I was shocked most by the lack of any effective response to the Nov. 19 brawl. Suspending the players involved in the fight is a good first step. Now why doesn’t the league force the teams to use the millions saved on their salaries on beefed-up security?

Catherine Adams

Agoura Hills

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I leave the wisdom of the NBA’s response to the Detroit incident to others to debate. I ask that we take a moment to look at what the recent series of incidents of fans throwing things at athletes may represent.

It is much too facile to state that the fans pay their money and have a right to state their opinion about the athletes. We now have fans shouting far more than opinions but outrageous personal abuse and now believing that throwing things onto the playing field is a right guaranteed by the price of admission.

We once had athletes so revered that our kids looked at their faces on cereal boxes at breakfast. Have they now become so different from us that we treat them as the Romans treated the gladiators.

The Times’ editorial bemoaned the fact that a child was seen crying as the violence in the Detroit arena escalated. Is the day approaching when children will not be upset by such action because their family or neighbors have shown them that it is OK to throw things at people who don’t perform the way you think they should?

Samuel A. Peters

Los Alamitos

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I have never been afraid to take my family to an NBA game -- until now.

Andy Simon

San Pedro

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You state that “referees should maintain order on the court.” This should mean ejections from the game for committing a flagrant foul; If a player violently reacts against another player who commits a hard foul, both should be ejected. Excessively arguing a call? No more technical foul as a warning. Hit the showers! Fines and suspensions to follow.

Fans who are season ticket-holders would risk revocation of their tickets for the remainder of the season -- with no refund -- for throwing anything at, taunting or otherwise mixing it up in any way with a player, coach or team staff member. The editorial states that the NBA ought to be prepared to televise games played in empty arenas if fans can’t be controlled. This should be taken further. If they are scheduled to play in a televised game, the coverage should be preempted. That hits the team in the wallet, and forces it to adopt more civil ways to treat opponents.

Eric Potruch

Westchester

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How times have changed. Chief Justice Earl Warren was once asked, “When you start the day, what section of the morning paper do you read first?” He answered, “I read the sports section first to read about man’s accomplishments and then I read the main news section to read about man’s failures.”

Jerry Wexler

Beverly Hills