One day after threatening to step down as 76ers
President if the team was forced to pay a $50,000 fine to
the NBA for C Matt Geiger's flagrant foul against Pacers G
Reggie Miller in Game Four of their second-round playoff
series Saturday, Pat Croce "grudgingly agreed to accept his
punishment" yesterday, according to Smith & McGeachy of the
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. Croce: "I expect our players to
follow the rules. ... I expect our fans to follow the
rules. And I would be a hypocrite if I did not follow the
rules. ... Although I do not agree with the punishment
handed to our organization, and I do not want to pay the
fine, and I said I won't pay the fine, if I must, I will."
Croce, who initially told NBA Commissioner David Stern to
"take the fine and shove it," was "assured" by Stern
yesterday that the fine "was not a personal attack against
[him] or a sign of disrespect toward the organization"
(PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 5/16). Croce: "I was probably the
first [person] in 30 years to tell [Stern] to shove it. I
take that back" (USA TODAY, 5/16). Croce, interviewed
during last night's Game Five of the 76ers-Pacers series, on
his talks with Stern: "The latest is we'll talk later and
that we agree to disagree." Croce, on threatening to resign
as team President: "I wanted to resign because I didn't
think it was fair that we were fined, and I thought it was
disrespectful to our organization" ("NBA on TBS," 5/15).
76ers Chair Ed Snider said he told Croce "there was no need
to get as riled up as he did. At the same time, I thought
it was totally unfair to single out our team" (PHILADELPHIA
DAILY NEWS, 5/16). A PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS editorial
calls the NBA's $50,000 fine "clearly wrong": "If the NBA
wants to put its foot down, let it step in the direction of
fairness and away from the practice of protecting selected
superstars" (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 5/16).
