Okay so OJ instigated it, so what? That doesn't excuse Tony for hitting him. Its not okay to physically assault someone, especially a co-worker.
Not really cut and dry as all that in my mind.
What other job has a workforce compiled entirely of rich, testosterone-loaded, peak physical specimens that are used to be being alpha dogs for most of their lives? On top of that, what job forces said alpha dogs to sit around for long periods of time with absolutely nothing to do (on bus and plane rides)?
I mean, Frank from accounting never duffs up Trevor from H&R because A) Frank is not about to get at some dude over the $40 Trevor borrowed the other night at Bennigans, and B) there would never be the opportunity. At most jobs, you work, then you go home. On teams, even professional ones, you have to spend lots of time with your teammates whether you like them or not.
Just a lot more factors involved than 'just a gambling debt' and 'never hit a co-worker'. Obviously having a cooler head would be ideal, but I'd bet a million dollars that at some point Larry Bird punched a teammate for one reason or another. I doubt it was a Boo-Ray debt, because Larry would never lose, but you know what I'm saying. Teams are one big happy family, but being brothers never stopped two guys from fighting.
I'm much more willing to excuse a fight that's related to athletic competition, and if this happened on the practice court, I doubt many would be criticizing Tony.
However, when a guy has a track record of physical violence and then gets into a fight with a teammate for flapping his gums, I see it as an issue.
Well to play devil's advocate, what about Larry Bird getting into a bar fight during the playoffs, and allegedly badly injuring his hand (I don't quite remember if that was proven to be true but I recall it was). The Celts ended up getting bounced from the playoffs because Bird played with a bum hand. I don't know. Maybe Bird is a thug also.
I don't think many people condone that, but they're willing to overlook it because of Larry's overall greatness. Of the court, though, he was at best a jerk.
The fight was in the '85 Eastern Conference Finals, when Larry allegedly went after a bar owner who beat up one of his friends. Even with the injured hand, Larry put up 23.5p / 8.8r / 4.5a. But yeah, it would have been better if he had avoided the situation.