The Ron Artest of the Chinese Basketball League

By Craig Kwasniewski

Tell me if this sounds familiar... according to Agence France-Presse, "An American player is under the spotlight after he jumped into the stands to chase a fan..."

Did this happen in Detroit or New York? Nope, this happened in the northeastern China's Jilin province and the player's name is Mack Tuck.

Evidently, Tuck, who plays for the Shandong Huangjin of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA, the one that Isiah Thomas did NOT ruin), simply lost it after getting hit by a plastic water bottle and jumped into the stands.

Here's the report:

An American player is under the spotlight after he jumped into the stands to chase a fan in the latest incident of violence to mar China's professional basketball league this season, state press said yesterday.

In a Sunday game in northeastern China's Jilin province, rowdy fan behavior led to American forward Mack Tuck of Shandong Huangjin charging into the stands at the end of the game, China Central Television said.

Hit by plastic object

Tuck had been hit by a plastic water bottle when fans rained objects down on the Shandong team as they departed the court after an 87-84 road win.

Tuck had a monster game, scoring 29 points, snaring 15 rebounds and doling out 11 assists.

The China Basketball Association is reviewing tapes of the incident and is awaiting a report from Jilin officials on whether to fine the American, who once starred for U.S. college team Central Oklahoma, the report said.

I honestly have never heard of Mack Tuck before, but after google-ing his name, I found out that he once played at the University of Colorado from 93-94 to 95-96 before transferring to Central Oklahoma for his senior season. Tuck did play one season (1995-96) with Chauncey Billups who... was at the "malice at the Palace" started when Ron Artest dove into the stands after getting hit with a plastic container. That, my friends, is what we call closure.

Comments

[Jay]

IN DEFENSE of Ron Artest & this Tuck guy: I believe it is plain, simple human instinct to defend yourself when someone assaults you. I blame the fans who attacked first, not the players who simply reacted to the attacks.