Mahorn, 10 players suspended

The WNBA punished so many players for their roles in this week's skirmish that the league is staggering the suspensions by alphabetical order.

"None of us can recall an incident like this," WNBA president Donna Orender said yesterday during a conference call.

The league suspended Detroit assistant coach Rick Mahorn and 10 players after the dust-up between the Shock and the visiting Los Angeles Sparks on Tuesday.

Shock forward Plenette Pierson was suspended for four games, the harshest penalty, for initiating and escalating the altercation.

Mahorn was suspended for two games, as were Shannon Bobbitt and Murriel Page of the Sparks, for the incident at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

"As a team, we're incensed that Rick Mahorn was suspended," Detroit coach Bill Laimbeer said in a telephone interview from Houston, where the Shock was scheduled to play the Comets. "He was trying to be a peacemaker, and now he's being thrown under the bus."

Renee Brown, the league's chief or basketball operations and player relations, said Mahorn only started off as a peacemaker before he shoved Sparks star Lisa Leslie.

Players suspended for one game included Detroit's Kara Braxton, Tasha Humphrey, Elaine Powell and Sheri Sam, along with Los Angeles' Leslie, Candace Parker and DeLisha Milton-Jones.

"I feel sorry for Bobbitt and for Murriel getting two games for coming off the bench, but that is what the league felt necessary," Parker said.

Four of the suspended Shock players and Mahorn began serving their suspensions last night as Detroit played Houston. Sam was on the active roster, but the Shock was left with eight players for the game. Pierson was also fined $1,500, and Mahorn was docked $1,000. The rest of the players involved were fined $500 each.

"I think the fines that were handed out were just," Los Angeles Sparks coach Michael Cooper said. "I don't think there is anyone in this league that condones fighting. All players know what happens when you leave the floor and throw a punch."

Pam Wheeler, director of operations for the WNBA players union, said officials are in the process of interviewing the suspended players and reviewing game video.The melee at The Palace in suburban Detroit - where the infamous brawl between the Pistons, Indiana Pacers and fans was in 2004 - broke out with 4.6 seconds left in a game won by the Sparks.

Parker and Pierson got tangled and fell to the court. Deanna Nolan tackled Parker, and Mahorn appeared to push Leslie to the court. Milton-Jones responded by punching Mahorn in the back.

The fracas started moments after Parker and Detroit's Cheryl Ford had to be separated after Ford fouled Parker. After Ford tried to restrain Pierson, her right knee buckled and she left in a wheelchair and will miss the rest of the season and playoffs with a torn knee ligament.

•Lieberman Detroit came up with a way to distract some attention away from the skirmish: It signed 50-year-old Nancy Lieberman, a Hall of Famer and one of its former coaches, to a seven-day contract. She had two assists, including a no-look pass in the closing minutes of the Shock's 79-61 loss to the Houston Comets last night. "It's really a one-game deal," Lieberman said before the game. "My motivation stems from the fact that I love this game and I never stopped playing it, whether it's a pickup game with Deion Sanders and Tony Romo at a church or at a park with my son." She became the oldest player in WNBA history at 39 while playing for the Phoenix Mercury in 1997, the league's inaugural season. Laimbeer said Lieberman, an ESPN analyst, was impressive during drills during last year's WNBA All-Star Game. A spot opened up for Lieberman with Ford's injury. Lieberman was the general manager and coach of the Shock from 1998 to 2000.

Related topic galleries: Renee Brown, Punishment, Lisa Leslie, Disasters, Fines, Contracts, Indiana Pacers

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