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‘Take the fine and shove it’ Croce, Sixers refuse to pay NBA's $50,000 fine
Posted: Monday May 15, 2000 11:05 AM
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- The owner of the Philadelphia 76ers is outraged by the NBA's decision to fine the franchise $50,000 over two flagrant fouls by Matt Geiger -- and he says he'll relinquish his position if forced to pay up. Pat Croce called NBA commissioner David Stern on Sunday, and vowed he would refuse to pay the fine, the Philadelphia Daily News reported Monday. After heated conversations with Stern and NBA vice president Rod Thorn, Croce told Sixers chairman Ed Snider that if the league insisted on the $50,000 fine, he would give up presidency of the team. "I told (Stern) what he could do with the fine," Croce said. "How dare they fine us and not Indiana. Why? "I told (Stern) he could take the fine and shove it. I told him I'm not paying. Not a dime," Croce told the newspaper. The league decided to fine the 76ers in addition to the two-game suspension and $20,000 fine it issued Geiger for his fouls Saturday against Reggie Miller of the Indiana Pacers in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. "The league is saying that myself, the organization, (coach) Larry Brown and Pat Croce are irresponsible," general manager Billy King said. "I take that as a personal insult to myself, Pat and Larry." King said that in the three years the trio have been with Philadelphia, they have "never condoned anything like this." "Larry Brown and I and Pat Croce, if you go back and looked at our track record, we've never condoned any violence," King said. "What Matt did was unfortunate, uncalled for ... but to fine us and say we're reckless is absolutely ridiculous." Brown said he was depressed over the fine. "We don't have a history over doing things like that," he said. "I take it personally, as well as Pat. We probably have the fewest flagrant fouls in the league." In his decision to fine the team, Thorn said "teams and coaches will be held accountable for the reckless actions of their players." Brown said such accusations were unfair. "Just pointing a finger and saying we have no control over our players, and don't respect the game or the league, and we're trying to hurt people, I'm really disappointed about that," Brown said. Donnie Walsh, the Pacers' president, was unhappy with the league's decision to suspend Miller for one game. The league also fined Miller $5,000. "We disagree with the ruling because it benefits the wrongdoer and encourages this type of provocation. The Philadelphia player intentionally tried to take Reggie out on two occasions," he said. "When Reggie retaliated -- only after the second provocation -- the end result was that we lost our best player, not only for that game, but for the next one, too. So it worked." Miller reacted to the second foul by striking Geiger with an open hand. "While Reggie literally violated the rules by pushing the Philadelphia player in the face, any balance of equities would not produce this decision," Walsh said. "We think this sends the wrong signal in the future and is not in keeping with the spirit of the rule." Pacers coach Larry Bird said Miller's reaction wasn't anything he hadn't seen many times in his 13-year playing career and three years as a coach. "Reggie didn't throw a punch. It really was a pushing foul in his face. It really wasn't a big deal. It was a typical NBA love fest out there," Bird said.
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