League Doles Out Suspensions

Two days after the worst fight in its 12-year history, the WNBA announced suspensions and fines for Detroit Shock assistant coach Rick Mahorn and 10 of the players involved in the skirmish that came at the end of the Shock's game against Los Angeles on Tuesday night in Detroit.

Detroit forward Plenette Pierson received the largest penalty, a four game suspension and a $1,500 fine for initiating and continuing to escalate the melee. League officials, including WNBA President Donna Orender and Renee Brown, the league's chief of basketball operations and player relations, said there was no question that Pierson played the most significant role as the skirmish developed.

"In reviewing and watching this over and over again there was a player on the floor that was clearly the aggressor a number of times," Orender said yesterday during a conference call. "That player has received a suspension worthy of her actions."

Mahorn got a $1,000 fine and a two-game suspension because his actions crossed a line, according to Brown.

"Our coaches are allowed to go out onto the court and act [in] the role of peacemaker," Brown said. "He started doing that and then took it a step too far when he pushed Lisa [Leslie] down. It escalated the situation."

The remaining players were fined $500 each, with the Sparks' Murriel Page and Shannon Bobbitt receiving two-game suspensions. Detroit's Kara Braxton, Tasha Humphrey, Elaine Powell and Sheri Sam and Los Angeles's Leslie, DeLisha Milton-Jones and Candace Parker were each suspended for one game.

Players will serve their suspensions on a staggered basis to allow the teams to dress the league-mandated minimum of eight players needed for a game.

The ruckus started when Pierson got tangled up with rookie Parker after a free throw, and then hovered over Parker when she tried to get up. This year's No. 1 overall draft-pick then pulled Pierson to the floor.

Detroit's Deanna Nolan tackled Parker and players flew off the benches. Mahorn, who said he was trying to end the fight, knocked Leslie backward. Milton-Jones then began pummeling Mahorn's back.

Brown said the league did not consider a player's history or reputation when evaluating Tuesday's fight at the Palace of Auburn Hills -- also the site of the most infamous brawl in NBA history between the Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers and fans in 2004.

WNBA officials refused to compare these disciplinary actions to other notable suspensions in league history, including when Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi was suspended for two games for "inappropriate conduct toward game officials" in 2007.

While there have been altercations between individual players before, there's never been a fight of this magnitude.

"One of the challenges the league had in this incident is that there hasn't been much precedent," said ESPN analyst Doris Burke, who called Tuesday's game. "We go back and see that Taurasi was suspended for two games for verbally attacking an official. Pierson's actions initiated and played the biggest part in the worst event of this type ever in the league and [she] is suspended for two more games. It doesn't necessarily make sense to take this event in isolation. It doesn't seem proportional."