A federal judge in New York has ruled that National Basketball Association All-Star Jermaine O'Neal does not have to serve the final 10 games of his suspension for fighting with fans at the end of the Indiana Pacers-Detroit Pistons game last month.
The ruling Thursday makes permanent the temporary decision U.S. District Judge George B. Daniels made last week. The first decision allowed O'Neal to play even though he had not served all of the 25-game suspension imposed by NBA commissioner David Stern.
The league went to court after an arbitrator reduced O'Neal's penalty to 15 games. The NBA did not participate in the arbitrator's hearing because it says the labor agreement with players gives Stern sole authority to hand out punishments.
Some information for this report provided by AP.