A certain scene from the old Sylvester Stallone movie, Judge Dredd, comes to mind when trying to understand the NBA’s rule system.

In the movie, Rob Schnieder’s character is released from jail into a rioting, chaotic city and finds himself amid criminals firing on the Judges (police) from a rampaged apartment building. To save his own skin he plays it cool, trying to avoid sticking out like a sore thumb. But the first opening he sees, he hides inside a robot cleaning device. When Judge Dredd makes his way up and lays down “the law� on the nearby criminals, he happens upon Schnieder in his hiding spot. In a swift judgment, Schneider, whose life was headed down the straight-and-narrow, is found guilty of taking part in the crimes and sentenced back to jail.

A fellow Judge, played by actress Diane Lane, suggests that sometimes the law should be interpreted different, and more lenient when necessary. Dredd, stuck to his book-knowledge of the general law, disagreed wholeheartedly; that is until the law hit closer to home. Later in the movie, Dredd is framed for murder and coincidently ends up in the same jail transport side-by-side with Schneider, amused by the irony. Dredd continued to vehemently deny wrongfully applying the law in Schneider’s case, claiming that the “law is never wrong,� but yet claimed his own innocence.

David Stern is, in essence, Judge Dredd. Only Judge Stern is more dangerous. Stern, for the most part, has the autonomy as commissioner of the NBA to create league-wide rules as he sees it, and apply them immediately. The league desperately needs its own Diane Lane.

Before Monday’s game in San Antonio, there was no major cause for complaint about the league rule suspending any player who leaves the vicinity of the bench during an altercation. Wanting to avoid scuffles and another incident anything near “The Palace,� fans, players and owners alike, of course, completely understand the intent of the league rule.

That was until 18 seconds remained in that Monday game and Robert Horry flagrantly fouled – by way of an NHL-like hip-check – the league’s true MVP (most valuable point-guard), Steve Nash. A brief “altercation� occurred, during which the Suns’ Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw were caught outside of the immediate bench area, thus breaking The Rule, despite their distance away from the action.

The next day, Stern and his league disciplinarian, Stu Jackson, promptly suspended Stoudemire and Diaw for the pivotal Game 5 of the Suns/Spurs series (Horry was suspended for 2 games). In conference calls with the media, Jackson deemed it a case where they could not bend.

Rules were meant to be broken. We see it every game when a player on the court travels or a referee gives a star preferential treatment.

At one point in the second quarter, Francisco Elson hung on the rim after a dunk. His feet ended up tangled at the shoulders of a Phoenix player, and the two fell to the ground. Tim Duncan promptly left the bench during the play, so much that he was almost in the paint. According to the league, who reviewed this incident also, no altercation occurred so Duncan was not punished. By saying no altercation occurred, already the league has allowed interpretation for another situation that is supposed to be cut-and-dry. Duncan left the bench because he saw a tussle coming, but it did not. But he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar, just like Diaw and Stoudemire, so why be lenient with Duncan and not the other 2?

By suspending Stoudemire, a first-team all-NBA player, along with Diaw, Amare’s most effective back-up, the Spurs are rewarded for Horry’s ruthless act, while the Suns are punished.

In Schneider’s case in Judge Dredd, the law was never meant to capture people caught up in law-breaking situations. But a snap judgment without examining the entire situation and surrounding facts led Judge Dredd to wrongfully punish Schneider.

In the case of Stoudemire and Diaw, this rule was never meant to punish players who were away from, and far removed from the altercation. The rule was created to keep the Stephen Jacksons and Freddie Joneses from helping a tussle escalate into an all-out riot. Instead, it rewards sending out less important players as hitmen on superstar players.

The league cannot step out and say that this is “the law” and they will not bend or break it in certain situations. They become complete hypocrites by saying so. By trying to over-protect its game, and in Sterns case, his supposedly unbendable and impenetrable “law,” the NBA has shot itself in the foot.

If ever a series deserved an asterisk, Game 5 would be the one.

When the San Antonio Spurs win a scrappy game tonight in Phoenix, the Suns have every right in the world to use the post-game platform to completely bash The Rule that ruined what should have been a Game 5 win at home.

Sure, they will be fined heavily by the league. But never have fines for league dissent been more appropriate in recent years. If the fines add more fuel to the fire of the Suns, the ultimate “ball never lies” scenario will work out perfectly.

Game 6, with two very healthy big-time players returning, should be a show. The court in San Antonio is likely to burn (figuratively, that is). This will help stick it to the league, The Rule, and especially Judge Stern, whose snap judgment may have cost the most exciting team in the West a league title.