Larry Bird was shocked by the magnitude of the suspensions handed down to his Pacers players after the brawl in Detroit November 19th.  

Granted, Bird has a lot to lose by his players being suspended, but he also comes from a different time, an era where rivalries were fierce and encouraged.

"There was a rumor going around that it was 30-20-20 or 30-20-15, and I said, 'Wow man, he's really hitting these guys hard,"' Bird said. "That's excessive. But this? This is off the charts. This is a shocker.

"We all thought they were so excessive, but especially Ronnie's," Bird said. "We're talking about 70 games."
As much as Bird may disagree with the ruling, he does agree that players should never bolt into the stands.

"You can't blame Stern for that, we got to blame ourselves somewhat," Bird said. "Guys did what they did."