Malice at the Palace

Ron Artest charging into the stands, about to punch the man (in the black shirt) whom he thought was responsible for throwing a cup at him. The one who threw is to his left.

The Pacers-Pistons brawl was an altercation that occurred in a National Basketball Association game between the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers on November 19, 2004 at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan. With less than a minute before the game was officially over, the fighting began on the court and then, after a plastic cup with beer was thrown at then Pacer Ron Artest, extended into the stands. It led to serious repercussions for those involved, from both the NBA and legal authorities.

Altercation

Five months before the fight, the Pistons defeated the Pacers in the 2004 Eastern Conference Finals on their way to the NBA title. The brawl occurred during their first meeting of the 2004-05 season, on November 19, 2004.

The brawl began with 45.9 seconds remaining in the game, when Indiana lead the game 97-82. When Piston forward/center Ben Wallace was fouled by Pacer forward Ron Artest, Wallace responded by shoving Artest in the chest, which led to a physical confrontation between several players from both teams. During the argument, Artest laid down on the scorer's table while putting on a headset, which led Wallace to throw an armband at him. A spectator, John Green, then threw a beer cup at Artest while he was lying on the table, which hit Artest in the chest.

Artest responded by running into the stands and shoving the man he mistakenly believed was responsible, which triggeried a violent response from nearby spectators, and involved Stephen Jackson who had also ran into the stands. After being confronted on the court, Artest punched another fan, which started another melee that eventually involved several Pacer players, including Jermaine O'Neal, who punched a second fan who had trespassed onto the court floor.

The Pistons announcer, John Mason, called the game with 45.9 seconds remaining, and the Pacers were awarded the 97-82 win without the game finishing. More debris was thrown at Pacer players and other personnel as they were escorted from the court. No players from either team spoke to the media before leaving the arena. The total number of injured was nine spectators.

Public Reaction

Several NBA players and coaches said the brawl was the worst fight they had ever seen, and 83% of fans who voted in a SportsNation poll on ESPN.com said that the fight was the "ugliest incident of fan-player violence" they had seen. Initially, the Pistons fans were blamed for the incident, as John Saunders, referred to them as "a bunch of punks.", and Tim Legler said that "the fans crossed the line".. Radio host Rush Limbaugh called Detroit "New Fallujah", after the Iraqi city, and 46% of fans said that the fans were to blame for incident. However, others said that Artest and the other players involved were to blame.

Suspensions and charges

The NBA handed down record suspensions following the incident. They included:

• Ron Artest: Remainder of the 2004-05 NBA season - 86 games (73 regular season, 13 postseason). Longest in the history of the NBA for an infraction not related to drugs or gambling.
• Stephen Jackson: 30 games.
• Jermaine O'Neal: 25 games (later reduced on appeal to 15 games).
• Ben Wallace: 6 games.
• Anthony Johnson: 5 games.
• Reggie Miller (despite not playing due to injury), Chauncey Billups, Elden Campbell, Derrick Coleman: 1 game each for leaving their respective benches. (Violation of NBA Rule 12-A-VII-c, "During an altercation, all players not participating in the game (Unless the Altercation spreads to the Vicinity Bench) must remain in the immediate vicinity of their bench. Violators will be suspended, without pay, for a minimum of one game and fined up to $35,000.")

The suspensions of Artest, Jackson and O'Neal were appealed by the NBA Players Association; only O'Neal's appeal was successful. Suspensions totaling 143 games combined for the nine players were handed out and in the end, the players served suspensions totaling 146 games.

Pacer player David Harrison can be seen on video trading punches with a Piston fan as he exits the court. Despite his involvement, Harrison received no suspension. League officials stated that the suspension of Harrison would have resulted in the Pacer line-up dropping below the eight player minimum required to compete. Thus, Harrison's participation was ignored.

The league said that it would review security procedures and alcohol policies at all arenas, and Commissioner David Stern vowed to impose lifetime, leaguewide bans on spectators who cause trouble.

The Auburn Hills Police Department and Oakland County Prosecutor's Office were also investigating and were considering filing criminal charges against the players and spectators involved. In addition, legal actions may be filed in the civil courts; at least two injured spectators filed lawsuits claiming monetary damage. The final legal consequences of this incident for those involved may take months to determine.

On November 30, Oakland County Prosecutor David Gorcyca announced that he will seek charges against all players involved in the mêlée, "Whoever was involved in fisticuffs will be charged, regardless if they were wearing a jersey. It's obvious there were several Pacer players and fans that dealt blows.

On December 8, five Pacers and seven Piston fans were charged, O'Neal was charged with two counts of assault and battery; Artest, Harrison, Jackson, and Johnson were charged with one count each. Five of the fans, including Green, received one count of the same charge; Bryant Jackson, a 35-year-old fan with prior criminal convictions, was charged with felony assault, for throwing a chair. The two fans that were on the court (Shackleford and Haddad) were charged for trespassing. Gorcyca showed the incident in a press conference, to explain why they were being charged.

Later in December, the union's appeal of the longest suspensions went before a federal arbitrator. In a decision handed down on December 22, the arbitrator upheld the full length of all suspensions except that of O'Neal, which was reduced to 15 games. The NBA appealed to federal court; on December 24, a judge issued a temporary injunction allowing O'Neal to play before a full hearing on the NBA's appeal.

O'Neal played in two more games, against the New Orleans Hornets and Charlotte Bobcats, before the NBA's case was brought before the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, New York on December 30. Judge George B. Daniels upheld the arbiter's view, stating in his 21-page decision, "Fighting with or striking a fan has never been characterized as conduct on the playing court." The heart of the NBA's argument against O'Neal was that under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, Commissioner David Stern had absolute authority to pass out suspensions and hear appeals for all on-court incidents. But because O'Neal's behavior was classified by the arbiter and the judge as an off-court incident, arbitration was allowed under the CBA, and thus the arbitrator was within his rights to hear the case. This led to a change in the rule under terms of the next Collective Bargaining Agreement.

While the Pacers therefore regained the services of O'Neal earlier than expected, no further appeals were made to reduce Artest's and Jackson's suspensions. The distinction cited by many was that while Artest and Jackson had entered the stands to fight, O'Neal had remained on the court. Jackson returned to the Pacers' lineup on January 26, 2005.

On February 17, 2005, the NBA imposed a new alcohol policy for all NBA arenas. The rules imposed a size limit of 700 mL (24 ounces) for alcohol purchases and a hard cap of two alcoholic beverage purchases for any individual person. Alcohol sales were also banned after the end of the third quarter.

On March 29, 2005, Bryant Jackson pleaded no contest to a felony assault charge for throwing the chair. On May 3, he was sentenced to two years probation.

David Wallace, the brother of Ben Wallace, was sentenced to one year of probation and community service after being seen on videotape punching Pacer guard Fred Jones from behind. [1]

On November 7, 2006, John Ciszewski, executive vice president of the Pistons, issued a letter to John Green informing him he was banned for life from the Palace for Pistons home games (and any other venue at which the Pistons are designated as the home team) [2], although this ban does not extend to other Palace events or other venues owned by William Davidson.

John Green

On November 30, eleven days after the brawl, Green was banned from attending any events at venues owned by Palace Sports and Entertainment, owner of the Pistons. His season tickets were revoked.

Green has several previous criminal convictions, including counterfeiting, carrying a concealed weapon, felony assault with intent to do great bodily harm and three drunken driving convictions. He was on court-ordered probation from a DWI conviction at the time of the brawl.

On March 27, a jury found Green guilty on one count of assault and battery for punching Artest in the stands, but acquitted him of an assault charge for throwing the cup. On May 1 2006, Green was sentenced to 30 days in jail and two years' probation.

On December 2, Green and Haddad were banned indefinitely from events at The Palace, and Artest filed restraining orders against both Haddad and Green. The order rules that the fans cannot come within 60 feet from Artest, which is the believed distance from where Green threw the cup at Artest.

On November 19, 2006 the Pistons, per an order from the NBA, banned Green from attending Pistons home games for life. [3]

Pacers-Pistons games after the brawl

After the brawl, the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons next played on December 25 at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, with the Pistons winning 98-93 without further incidents. Wallace played, as he had completed his suspension. O'Neal, who had already served 15 games of his suspension, also played due to the injunction. Artest and Jackson were still under suspension and unable to participate.

On March 25, 2005, the Pacers played at The Palace for the first time since the brawl. The game was delayed 90 minutes after a series of bomb threats were aimed at the Pacers locker room. No explosives were found. Two of the key figures in the original incident missed the game, as Artest was still suspended and O'Neal had an injured shoulder. The game was played to its full 48-minute completion this time, with the Pacers winning, 94-81.

Both teams made the playoffs that year, and met during the 2005 Playoffs. The Pistons fell behind 2 games to 1 early, but then clinched the series with three straight wins. The series was mostly memorable for the valiant exit of Pacers icon Reggie Miller, who scored 27 points in his final professional game as the Pacers were eliminated from the playoffs. He received a standing ovation not only from the home crowd, but also by the Pistons players and coaching staff. Larry Brown even used the team's final time out so that Miller could be acknowledged. He retired at the end of the season. The Pistons would advance to the NBA Finals, where they lost to the San Antonio Spurs in seven games. It is believed that the successful finishing of the playoff series without incident has laid the controversy to rest.

Ron Artest finally made his return to Detroit during the 2006-07 season as a member of the Sacramento Kings. The fans jeered him constantly throughout the game, but there were no problems.

Some Pacer fans saw this as the beginning of a decline in Pacers play, to a point today were they are no longer contenders in the Eastern Conference. It led to the inevitable trade of numerous productive players, most notably Stephen Jackson and Ron Artest, which has devastated the Pacers' roster and has made them unlikely for even a first round playoff appearance.

Conversely, the Pistons have seen even more production out of the same team for the most part that played that night, being major title contenders every year since. This has sparked some controversy, as the same event that destroyed one team left one almost unblemished.

See also

• Knicks-Nuggets brawl
• National Basketball Association criticisms and controversies
• List of violent spectator incidents in sports
• Violence in sports
• Football hooliganism
• Bonn-Bamberg basketball brawl
• South Carolina-Clemson brawl, which occurred the day after the Pacers-Pistons brawl
• Miami-FIU brawl

External links

• Commissioner David Stern's initial statement regarding the brawl - November 20, 2004
• Commissioner Stern's press release regarding sanctions to the players involved - November 21, 2004
• MSNBC - "Fans as much to blame as players for brawl"
• PR Week - "When athletes attack: Does brawl bode well for the NBA?"