The NBA: "Where dirty happens?"

Something I've noticed more during this year's NBA playoffs than in previous years are the seemingly dirty plays that go down. This is time of year when stakes are their highest, teams turn it up a notch, and games get more physical; as expected, some players are hitting particularly hard.

What really shocks me though, both as a fan and as a proponent of fair play and sportsmanship, is that the NBA is doing a half-assed job in regulating it all. The results of their so-called "reviews" are so inconsistent

• Rajon Rondo wraps his fingers around Brad Miller's face in Game 5 of Bulls-Celts first-round match up. NBA review. No further action.

• Rondo then drags Kirk Hinrich from just outside the lane to the sideline and then launches him into the scorer's table in Game 6 of the same series. NBA reviews. No further action.
  

• Dwight Howard cracks Samuel Delambert over the head with an elbow after a shot is made in Game 5 of the 76ers-Magic first-round series. NBA reviews. Howard gets 1-game suspension.
  

• Kenyon Martin shoves Dirk Nowitzki to the ground after a physical post-up play in Game 1 of Nuggets-Mavs second-round series. NBA reviews. Martin get $25,000 fine.
  

• Rafer Alston slaps Eddie House in the head after House scores 3 of his 31 points in Game 2 of Magic-Celts round 2. NBA reviews. Alston gets a 1-game suspension.
  

• Derek Fisher premeditates and delivers a body checks on Luis Scola while Scola sets a pick in Game 2 of Lakers-Rockets second-round series. NBA reviews. Fisher gets 1-game suspension.
  

• Kobe Bryant lands a nasty elbow to the chest/neck of Ron Artest while battling for a rebound in same game. Artests tries to plead his case, Kobe pretends to be the bigger man, and Ron-Ron gets tossed. NBA reviews. Bryant's elbow is upgraded to a Flagrant 1. No further action is taken.
  

Now, I can understand the suspensions given to Howard and Fisher; the NBA ruled those consistently with the rule book. But $25 for K-mart while Rondo gets away with shot-putting Hinrich? Skip-to-my-Lou gets suspended for a bitch-slap upside the head, but Rondo gets away with a face-rake?! Bryant could have shattered Artest's airway, but since Kobe is one of the NBA's poster-children, he gets a meaningless foul upgrade. Artest so much as raises his eyebrows after taking an elbow to the trachea and HE gets tossed?!!

Something is not right here. Maaaaybe you can excuse the refs for miscalling the fouls (techs vs. flagrant-1 vs. flagrant 2) because they are made in the heat of the moment. But Stu Jackson and David Stern (and the other powers that be) need to take a closer look at these plays next to each other and be a little more consistent with their decisions.

I doubt that the NBA has never seen fouls like this, or that their rules are so ambiguos that it is difficult to be consistent when levying penalties. I may be shooting from the hip here, but seems to me it has everything to do with the histories that Artest, Martin, and (to a lesser extent) Alston have with the league. But is it fair to hold a player's history against him, especially after they've paid their dues (literally and figuratively) to the NBA, started over in new cities, and made their peace with their past? Is it fair for the refs and the NBA front office to lower their tolerance for the NBA's "troublemakers" and be more lax with more celebrated players or players from more storied franchises?

I think not.