NBA Suspensions Update (12/23)

Pacers' O'Neal cleared to play

• Indiana forward Jermaine O'Neal can play against Detroit on Christmas after a federal judge upheld an arbitrator's decision to reduce the forward's suspension for fighting with fans during the Nov. 19 Pacers-Pistons brawl.

• Daniels said he ruled in O'Neal's favor before deciding the merits of the case because to make the player serve a punishment that may not be upheld could have "irreversible consequences for the player, the team, the player's future and the league itself."

For Stern, it's not over

• Stern and the NBA were never going to drop their protests of the reduction in Jermaine O'Neal's suspension. No matter what a judge said Thursday, and no matter how close we are to Christmas. The league will let O'Neal play in Indiana's next two games because it has no choice. Then Stern and his legal team will try again to convince the presiding judge that the Pacers' All-Star forward still has 10 more games to serve for his part in The Malice of Auburn Hills melee Nov. 19.

• Stern has believed from the start that no outside arbitrator should have any input on his suspension power, based on the language in the league's current Collective Bargaining Agreement. If Stern didn't keep fighting Thursday's ruling that reinstates O'Neal, a precedent would be set that league-issued suspensions can indeed be appealed to a third party ... which would certainly give the union a stronger hope of changing that language permanently in the next CBA expected to take hold next season.