In 1957, Red Auerbach -- who was, of course, the coach of the Boston Celtics -- punched Ben Kerner, the owner of the St. Louis Hawks. In the mouth. On the court.
For that, he was fined $300.
Think about that. A coach punching an owner in the mouth, with fans watching.
And some fans say the NBA is out of control now.
I was lucky enough to get to interview Auerbach about that before his death, and he didn't have the slightest bit of remorse, either. Hilarious.
At the time I was on the phone with him, we both remarked how that kind of thing would never happen today. An owner, in fisticuffs, on the court?
Not going to happen. But then ... if it were to happen ... does anyone wonder which owner would be most likely?
After last night, I nominate Mark Cuban.
At the end of the first half of the exciting Nuggets vs. Mavericks game, J.R. Smith threw an elbow at Dallas's Antoine Wright.
Mark Cuban decided that he had to be the one to straighten out that situation. So he walked over to Smith and told him that the elbow was not OK, and that he'd be sending the tape to the League in the hopes that Smith would be sanctioned.
Cuban says Smith handled it coolly. Good for him. And lucky for Cuban.
Chris Tomasson of the Rocky Mountain News talked to Cuban about the incident:
"My conversation with J.R. was actually very cordial and levelheaded. I told him that it's not cool to throw elbows at someone's head, that I would be turning it into the league. He politely and cordially told me our player (Wright) had grabbed him before that. I told him that, if our guy did something wrong, I will say something to the player and he should turn it into the league . No 'barking.' There were several other Nuggets right there. They made the point to tell me J.R. and our guy 'had history.'
Cuban wrote he spoke to Wright at halftime.
"I went to our player and told him that he was not to retaliate, that I would deal with it with the player and the league," Cuban wrote. "He agreed."
That part all seemed to work out well, even though I'm sure most owners would tell you that they'd leave such things to the players and coaches to sort out.
But Cuban then took things a step further, and did the kind of thing that could really piss a guy off. Tomasson reports:
Cuban wrote Smith made an apparent goodwill gesture after the game.
"The humorous part of the whole thing was that, after the game, J.R. sent over to our locker room a signed pair of shoes for me," Cuban wrote. "I sent them back, saying he should sell them, if you could get anything for them, to help pay for the fine he was going to face."
Ooh, see now? That's just taking it one step too far.
I don't know the real story of why Red Auerbach socked that owner. Versions vary. (There was some real beef about how the Hawks played, but Auerbach added that it also helped to create some excitement.) But if I were Cuban, I'd be glad Auerbach wasn't still in the business of socking owners who got on his nerves.
(Photo by Garrett W. Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)
