Mahorn Knocks Down Leslie
I never thought I’d blog about a WNBA game but….
In last night’s game between the Detroit Shock and Los Angeles Sparks a brawl broke out with just seconds to go in the game. During the fracas Detroit assistant coach Rick Mahorn knocked LA forward Lisa Leslie to the floor.
I wasn’t watching the game (I never have watched a WNBA game) but I was annoyed at the way the highlight of the knockdown was treated on ESPN’s SportsCenter. They were making it seem like Mahorn was a villain and on the surface I can understand why someone would think that. However anyone who saw the highlights and has half a brain in their head can understand that Mahorn was simply trying to keep the fight from escalating further by pushing players away from it. The other coaches were trying to do the same thing. I don’t think Mahorn even realized that it was Leslie when he pushed her but he did have the presence of mind to hold out his hand to help her up afterward.
Leslie obviously didn’t accept his hand. She may not have even noticed it was there. And judging from her post game comments she didn’t understand what Mahorn was really trying to do. But she was in the heat of the moment and I’m sure when she sees the footage later she’ll realize that it was simply an accident that happened at a bad time.
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“They were making it seem like Mahorn was a villain and on the surface I can understand why someone would think that. However anyone who saw the highlights and has half a brain in their head can understand that Mahorn was simply trying to keep the fight from escalating further by pushing players away from it.”
I think the controversy surrounding the Mahorn-Leslie tussle shows that it is NOT obvious why Mahorn was standing over Leslie as she fell. The question everyone is asking is, “Did (or didn’t) a coach from one team push a player from another to the ground?”
One reason I am confused is this: If Mahorn were trying to restore order, and had no intention of pushing Leslie, why wasn’t he restraining members of his _own_ team, the way all other deescalating coaches do when their players get in a brawl (check out any Yankees/Sox or hockey brawl in which the order-restorers are not called “villains”).
The Leslie-Mahorn videos on youtube and espn don’t show what happened just before she fell. That’s why people with whole brains are still wondering whether Mahorn had good intentions. For now, the only half- or whole-brain who actually know what happened is probably Mahorn.
Or do you have access to some video that shows the entire Mahorn-Leslie play-by-plya the rest of us brains haven’t yet seen?