Malice at the Palace
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On November 19, 2004 at the The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan, an on-court altercation at a National Basketball Association match between the Detroit Pistons and their arch-rivals, the Indiana Pacers spread into the stands. This disturbance has led to serious repercussions for those involved from both the NBA and the legal authorities.
The disturbance
The brawl began with less than a minute remaining in the game and Indiana winning 97-82. When Pistons center Ben Wallace was attempting to put up a shot, Ron Artest fouled him hard. Wallace responded by shoving Artest, resulting in a bench clearing brawl.
Artest avoided most of the on-court altercation by lying down on the scorer's table. He became enraged, however, when a spectator hit him with a thrown cup of liquid (probably beer or soda). Artest responded by entering the stands and confronting the man he believed responsible, triggering a violent response from dozens of spectators, as Pacers Stephen Jackson and Fred Jones followed Artest to assist him. Several spectators were struck by Pacers players, while a few retaliated with punches of their own and others threw cups of beer and soda at Pacers players. Some spectators made their way to the court, where they were struck by Artest and other Pacers personnel, most notably Jermaine O'Neal, who was shown on video punching a fan (who had just confronted, and been punched by, Artest).
The match was abandoned with 45.9 seconds remaining, and the Pacers were awarded a 97-82 win by default. More beer, soda, ice, popcorn and at least one chair were thrown at Pacers players and other personnel as they were escorted from the court. No players from either team spoke to the media before leaving the arena.
It was estimated that nine spectators were injured, though none of the injuries were thought to be serious. Two of the injured were taken to hospital.
Consequences
On November 21, the NBA announced the following suspensions:
- Ron Artest: Remainder of the season (at least 72 games total)
- Stephen Jackson: 30 games
- Jermaine O'Neal: 25 games
- Ben Wallace: 6 games
- Anthony Johnson: 5 games
- Reggie Miller, Chauncey Billups, Elden Campbell, Derrick Coleman: 1 game each
The Auburn Hills Police Department and Oakland County Prosecutor's Office are also investigating and are considering filing criminal charges against the players and spectators involved. In addition, legal actions may be filed in the civil courts. The final legal consequences of this incident for those involved may take months to determine.
On November 20, the Pistons announced they would increase the presence and visibility of security in their arena. The number of armed policemen was to be doubled to about 20, and the number of unarmed security was to be increased by 25 percent. In addition, a protective cover was to be be added to the tunnel connecting the court to the dressing rooms. Pistons CEO Tom Wilson said his club was considering banning the spectators involved from the Palace, and revoking their season tickets.
The Pistons and Pacers will play each other again on December 25 at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Public reaction
Commentators, and those familiar with the event outside the sports media, appear to be divided over the issues of who should primarily be blamed for instigating the incident, and what sanctions they should receive. A commonly-voiced opinion is that there is never any valid excuse for a player to go into the stands, no matter how intense the provocation may have been. Some have also articulated the view that the more physical - and arguably "dirty" - style of play that prevails in the NBA's Eastern Conference (to which both the Pistons and Pacers belong), as opposed to the faster, "show-time" style favored by most Western Conference teams, may have been a contributing factor in the melee.
Similar incident occurring the day after
The day after the fight at The Palace, November 20, there were two fights in a college football game between the University of South Carolina and Clemson University-one before the game, and a massive 10-minute scrum during the 4th quarter in which state troopers had to get involved, but no fans got onto the field. Though not directly related to what happened in Detroit the night before, Clemson head coach Tommy Bowden, son of Florida State University head coach Bobby Bowden, said his players had stayed up the night before, watching what had happened in Detroit. There are still questions as to if the two fights were somewhat inspired by the Detroit brawl.