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NBLC's forfeit fallout continues; Windsor Express coach suspended, player banned
Whether the National Basketball League of Canada can regain face after having the decisive game of its championship eradicated remains to be seen. Be that as it may, the consequences from the fracas that prevented the Windsor Express (who were declared champions by default) and Halifax Rainmen from playing Game 7 on April 30 continue to pile up, not necessarily with an accompanying rhyme nor reason.
On Friday, the league issued a lifetime ban to Windsor guard Tony Bennett, a key player who averaged 15.8 points and 5.9 assists this season, and also suspended Express coach Bill Jones for one season.
From CBC:
The league declared the Express champions after the Rainmen said they feared for their safety, refused to play Game 7 and headed home.
Jones said at a news conference he regrets the incident and will try to improve his conflict resolution skills.
"I've been in enough scuffles," Jones said.
He said he should have deflated the incident by walking away. (CBC)
According to the Express' version of events, Bennett became involved after seeing Jones on the floor, entangled with Rainmen players.
The league's statement reads, in part:
"There's no doubt that there were multiple errors in judgement on both sides on the morning of April 30th that led to the game not being played," said Board spokesman Vito Frijia. "We felt it was our obligation as directors to show that the league will not tolerate a coach initiating a physical altercation with a player.
"With regards to Mr. Bennett the report had inconclusive testimony, and so we have suspended him from the league until we can ascertain his, and other individuals', testimony who have not yet replied."
"We are looking forward to our owner's meeting next Thursday in Toronto to work together to start planning our 2015-16 season, as well as establishing measures to strengthen the league."
Windsor owner Dartis Willis also said the league's "investigation was botched," but it's not as if there's any way of appealing that.
To that point, though, the league was botched. The $90,000 in fines and "indefinite suspensions" for Halifax coaches and players were handed down just a day after the game, before the brawl could have possibly been properly investigated, as Halifax guard Joey Haywood pointed out earlier this week. A $5,000 fine is a big financial hit for a minor-league basketball player. The way the Halifax players and their coach were tossed under the bus isn't exactly a recruiting pamphlet for the four-year-old NBCL.
That's not to say anyone should get off scot-free. It just speaks to oversight and leadership, or a lack thereof, that contributed to the bush-league outcome of championship series being abandoned. As much as there's ample blame to go around for what happened, it's also hard not to conclude the NBLC has just been reacting to the ruckus.
Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.
