NBA Insider with Ken Berger

Although David Stern trotted Stu Jackson out Tuesday night to do his dirty work in announcing the controversial suspensions in the Suns-Spurs series, you knew it was only a matter of time before the NBA commissioner surfaced to defend his decision.

He came out Wednesday afternoon throwing bigger punches than anyone involved in the Game 4 incident had to offer, giving a spirited defense of his one-game suspensions for the Suns’ Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw.

Stern: “You can jump up and take a step or two to look out, but the entire intent of the rule for the 10 years or so it’s been in effect was to make it clear that there’s no way to know whether someone running out on the court is coming as friend or foe.

“When Rudy Tomjanovich came running out to see what was going on and then tried to break up a fight, his face was forever changed. And it’s a great concern that we have and so we made it as simple as possible.”

In a contentious interview with Dan Patrick on ESPN Radio, Stern said Stoudemire and Diaw should have known that there is no room for interpretation in the leaving-the-bench rule, which players are reminded of before the season and again before the playoffs.

“Either they didn’t know about it, or they knew about it and they forgot about it, or one of the six assistant coaches that was there didn’t grab them fast enough,” Stern said. “So these players took themselves out of the game.”

Would the owners want Stern to have the authority to interpret a player’s intent when he leaves the bench?

“No,” he said. “They were 20 or 25 feet away from the bench and they violated the rule. It’s a fair point if you want to change the rule.”

Asked by Patrick about the suspensions affecting the outcome of a playoff series, Stern snapped.

“I’m going to wrestle with you, and you better stop that,” he said. “It’s not being decided by that. It’s being decide because two Phoenix Suns, who knew about the rule, forgot about it, couldn’t control themselves, and didn’t have coaches that could control them. And don’t you forget it.

“Now, is it exactly fair? Probably not. Is it a red-letter rule? Absolutely. Did it cost other teams their playoffs and championship? Yes. So I guess there’s no way for us to get the message through. Do you think next year the players will understand it?

“I’m unhappy with this result, there’s no doubt about it. And if the owners would like to change it, I’m happy to do it. Believe me, I’d be very happy to do it. But to listen to the clamor that Robert Horry changed this series is just silly. What changed this series is Amare and Boris ran out onto the court. And they either forgot about it or they couldn’t control themselves, I don’t know which one. And there wasn’t an assistant coach there, one of the six, to restrain them. OK? So now either we have to have new rules, put up a fence, or hire more assistant coaches.”

Stern said he reviewed video of the Spurs’ bench during the altercation sparked by Robert Horry’s hard foul on Steve Nash with 18 seconds left in Game 4 and said no member of the Spurs left the bench. He also rejected the notion that Tim Duncan should have been suspended for walking several steps onto the court in the second quarter when the Spurs’ Francisco Elson and the Suns’ James Jones got tangled up after a dunk by Elson.

“He didn’t leave to go to an altercation,” Stern said. “That was looked at. … Your point is right on one point: It’s a shame this happened, and it’s a shame that by the players not being able to control themselves, they’ve put their team into this position. And I guess it’s a shame that we have a rule that I have to enforce. And I accept all of the above. So the owners and the teams will have to decide to change the rule, which is fine, too. I’m OK with that.

“Frankly, one of the things that I’ve watched over the years is that we’ve tried so hard to squeeze fighting out of our game and potential injury out of our game,” Stern said. “And so if I had a team, I would make sure that my players never leave the bench, and so would you. … That’s the spectacle that we try and avoid: bench-clearing brawls, OK?”

Strong stuff from a commissioner who, as usual, is not backing down to criticism.