Grantland.com put together an oral history of the November 19, 2004 game between the Detroit Pistons and the Indiana Pacers recently, the night subsequently known as “The Malice at the Palace”, and it’s a thoroughly interesting read. Below are some excerpts from that piece:
Artest charged into the stands to grab the offending cup thrower, pushed over the wrong fan (Michael Ryan), then stood over him and shook him with both hands. The fan who actually DID throw the cup, John Green, grabbed Artest from behind and tried to put him in a headlock. Another fan whipped a beer at Artest at close range, spraying Stephen Jackson, who retaliated with a wild punch. Meanwhile, Ben Wallace’s brother, David, just missed tagging Indiana’s Fred Jones with a haymaker, as players and coaches from both teams surged into the fray as peacemakers. Hall of Famer Bill Walton, who was announcing the game for ESPN, would later call the melee “the lowest point for me in 30 years with the NBA.” Here’s how many of the principals remember this sequence.
Stephen Jackson soon followed Ron Artest into the stands, and Captain Jack goes on to recall what was going through his mind at that chaotic moment in NBA history:
Jackson: My initial reaction was to go grab Ron. But as soon as I hopped up [into the stands], another guy threw a beer in his face. My reaction was to retaliate. I don’t regret being there for my teammate. But I regret going in the stands and fighting fans. It was totally wrong, but you don’t think about that when somebody you call your brother is in harm’s way. The only thing you’re thinking about is getting out there and helping him. That’s the definition of a teammate, being together, being there for your teammate. And like Tim Duncan says, I’m the ultimate teammate. A lot of people just think I was being a thug in going in there. My whole thought was, my teammate is in the stands fighting and I’m going to be there for him. I knew as soon as I took the first step to go into the stands that there was going to be consequences behind it, no question. But I can deal with those consequences knowing that my teammate is here alive and healthy, [rather] than me standing on the court watching him, worrying about my career and money and he’s sitting over there bleeding to death.
Then assistant coach Mike Brown, now the head coach of Metta World Peace and the Los Angeles Lakers was there too; his thoughts were as follows:
Mike Brown: I was getting hit while I was in the stands. Ron had grabbed the wrong guy, and the guy that actually threw the cup was hitting me from behind because I went to grab Ron to try and get Ron out of there. It was pure chaos.
I recommend reading this whole article, it really makes you feel as if you were there. It’s hard to believe that game is now almost eight years ago too, I remember watching it on television the night it happened. Glad nothing like that has happened since, and I hope it never does.
