Malice: the intention or desire to do evil; ill will.

On November 19, 2004, the defending NBA(National Basketball Association) champions, the Detroit Pistons, played what started as a normal regular-season game against the Indiana Pacers. The Friday night matchup was nationally televised on ESPN, which meant that this was a highly anticipated game and all eyes would be on the two teams. The Pistons and Pacers had not played each other since the previous season’s Eastern Conference Finals, in which the Pistons won 4 games to 2 in a heated 6 game series en route to their first NBA title since the early 1990s. As expected, the game was predominantly highlighted by the defensive prowess of the two teams. However, the game saw the Pacers putting the breaks on the defending champs, as they refused to give up the lead on their way to a convincing 97-82 victory over the Pistons, that is if the game had been properly finished. With 45.9 seconds left in regulation, Detroit’s superstar center Ben Wallace shoved Indiana’s small forward and defensive stalwart, Ron Artest(now Metta Sandiford-Artest), to spark what is regarded as one of the most infamous incidents in the history of American sports, at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

Lighting the Match

With 45.9 seconds remaining in the 4th quarter of the game, Ben Wallace went up for a routine layup when he was fouled by Ron Artest, who slapped Wallace across the back of his head. Wallace responded to the foul with a hard two-handed shove to the face of Artest. As a result of Wallace’s retaliation, both the Pistons and Pacers benches were cleared as players from both teams rushed to separate Wallace and Artest from each other. Pistons head coach, Larry Brown, wasn’t too worried about the altercation, as these types of situations tend to last only a few seconds before being resolved. The confrontation was broken up and the referees went to discuss the fouls and ejections that were to be called. That’s when Ron Artest went over and laid down on the scorer’s table.

Raging Fire

While Artest was lying on the scorer’s table, Wallace provoked Artest by throwing a towel at him. Artest started walking towards Wallace before being held back by his coaches and returning to the scorer’s table. Artest,  now sitting on the table, was beginning to calm down as he was hit by a plastic cup thrown by a Pistons fan, John Green, from the stands. Artest jumped off of the table, ran into the stands, and grabbed another fan, Michael Ryan, who Artest had wrongfully accused of throwing the cup. Pacers radio broadcaster Mark Boyle quickly stood up from his chair at the broadcast table and tried to hold back Artest when he was knocked backward and stepped on, suffering five fractured vertebrae and a gouge on his head. Pacers shooting guard Stephen Jackson followed Artest into the stands and laid a haymaker on a fan, William Paulson, right on the nose. At that moment, Pacers players Reggie Miller, Eddie Gill, David Harrison, Fred Jones, and Jamaal Tinsley, Pistons power forward Rasheed Wallace, and numerous personnel all went into the stands to retrieve Jackson and Artest and break up the fight before anything else happened. John Green, the fan who had thrown the cup at Artest, landed two punches to the head of Artest, as did David Wallace, Ben Wallace’s brother, to Fred Jones. It was complete pandemonium at The Palace of Auburn Hills as more and more fans began to throw drinks, food, and basically anything else that they could get their hands on into the melee. Some fans even made their way onto the court in the midst of all of the madness that was going on around them. Artest was finally removed from the scrum, but just as he began making his way towards the Pacers locker room, he was confronted by two more fans, Alvin “A.J.” Shackleford and Charlie Haddad. Without any hesitation, Ron Artest punched Shackleford in the face, causing Haddad to get involved by pushing Artest away before spilling out onto the court. While Haddad was on the ground, Pacers point guard Anthony Johnson struck him in the back of the head. As Haddad finally got his feet underneath him, Pacers center and the emerging face of the franchise Jermaine O’Neal punched him in the jaw, nearly killing him. It was total anarchy at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said, “I felt like I was fighting for my life out there.” Pacers assistant coach Chuck Person compared the situation to being “trapped in a gladiator-type scene where the fans were the lions and we were just trying to escape with our lives. That’s how it felt. That there was no exit. That you had to fight your way out.” The chaos didn’t stop when the players left the court. As the Pacers headed towards their locker room, a steel folding chair was launched at Jermaine O’Neal. In the Pacers’ locker room, O’Neal and Rick Carlisle nearly came to blows because O’Neal was furious about how some of the coaches had been trying to restrain players whilst they were actively defending themselves out on the court. When the dust settled, nine fans were injured and two were taken to a nearby hospital as a result of the fight.

Severe Punishments

The following day, the NBA handed out indefinite suspensions to Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson, Jermaine O’Neal, and Ben Wallace for their involvement in the brawl. The NBA announced that an additional five players would be suspended for a total of 146 games. The most severe punishment would be given to Ron Artest, as he would be suspended for the remainder of the 2004-05 season and the playoffs(86 games). It would be the longest suspension in NBA history. The players also lost a combined $11 million worth of their salaries, with Artest alone losing around $5 million. The five involved Pacers players and five Pistons fans were all charged with varying levels of assault and battery. Ron Artest, David Harrison, Stephen Jackson, Jermaine O’Neal, and Anthony Johnson were fined a combined $1,250 and were ordered to complete a combined 340 hours of community service. Each player was also sentenced to one year of probation and received mandated anger management therapy. John Green was found guilty on one count of assault and battery and was sentenced to 30 days in jail as well as two years of probation.

Who’s to Blame?

Several NBA players and coaches recalled the brawl as being the worst fight that they had ever seen. The majority of media outlets put the blame on the fans and not the players. ESPN’s John Saunders referred to the fans as “a bunch of punks”, and Stephen A. Smith said that, “They should be ashamed of themselves and some of them should be arrested as far as I’m concerned.” Many believed that the media’s criticism was biased and that the players were more at fault for the incident.

Legacy

On March 25, 2005, the Pacers met the Pistons in the Palace for the first time since the brawl. However, the insanity was not over just yet, as the game would be delayed for 90 minutes after a series of bomb threats were aimed at the Pacers locker room. The game eventually got underway and the Pacers would leave the Palace as the victors, defeating the Pistons 94-81. As of today, all of the players who were involved in the brawl have retired, with Ron Artest being the last to do so in 2017. The Malice at the Palace most certainly leaves a nasty stain on both the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons franchises, but the event was also extremely important in the sense that it displayed the violent effects of alcohol on avid sports fans. As a result of the incident, the NBA created a policy that bans the sale of alcohol to fans after the end of the third quarter. What happened at The Palace of Auburn Hills exposed several fundamental issues that resided within the foundation of the NBA, but it effectively made the association aware of those problems, and they thankfully learned from their mistakes.