An intense night In NBA History
It all started on November 19, 2004. The Pistons and Pacers we’re facing off and with less than a minute left in the game Ben Wallace got the ball down low and did some spin layup thing and was fouled by Ron Artest now known as Metta World Peace. Ben Wallace got up and shoved Ron Artest by his throat a good 15 ft. back. Ben Wallace is 6’9 240 lbs and Ron Artest is 6’7 260 lbs. Although Artest does weigh more than Ben Wallace, Ben Wallace is super buff. The ref grabs Ron Artest and holds him back, meanwhile 3 other Pistons run up on Artest and start getting up in his face. So now we have 4 Pistons players and 3 Pacers players all throwing punches while refs and staff are in the middle of it. Stephen Jackson challenges Richard Hamilton to a fight, he throws up his fists but 2 coaches hold back both of them. Now it’s calmed down a little bit and to keep Artest from getting up they are laying him down on the score table.
Then all hell broke loose again, a fan threw a cup at Artest and he runs into the stands and starts pouncing on the wrong fan. Now Stephen Jackson is punching the fans that are trying to hold Artest back. Rasheed Wallace runs into help and jumps into the mess.
Right in front of the Pistons bench another fight breaks out with a fan and Ron Artest. They have 10 people carrying Stephen Jackson off the court. As Artest is walking into the locker Pistons fans are throwing cups and towels and other things at him. Jermaine O’neal is walking into the locker and is now arguing with fans. Luckily no one was seriously injured. But the game was called off and the final score was Pistons 82, Pacers 97.
In an interview Reggie Miller states that he had stopped another fight from breaking out. He said that a police officer was trying to spray Ron but Ron was calmed down at this point. If that cop would’ve sprayed him Ron would most likely fight back.
“As bad as it looked on TV it was 20 times worse in person.” — Jermaine O’neal
“When he laid on the scorer’s table, it took the natural barriers away. There’s nothing between you and the crowd.” — Tom Wilson
“I was lying down when I got hit with liquid, ice and glass on my chest and face. After that it was self defense.” — Ron Artest
“I felt like I was fighting for my life out there.” — Rick Carlisle
“It felt like we were trapped in a gladiator scene where the fans were the lions and we were just trying to escape with our lives. That there was no exit. That you had to fight your way out.” — Chuck Person
“Once we realized our coach was punched we were like, We’re all in this together.” — Stephen Jackson
“Nobody knew how serious the consequences were going to be.” — Mark Boyle
List of suspensions:
Pacers players:
Ron Artest- Rest of the season
Stephen Jackson- 30 games
Jermaine O’neal- 25 games
Anthony Johnson- 5 games
Reggie Miller- 1 game
Pistons players:
Ben Wallace- 6 games
Elden Campbell- 1 game
Chauncey Billups- 1 game
Derrick Coleman- 1 game
Fans:
The one who threw the cup at Ron Artest is banned from Pistons games for life.
Bryant Jackson was charged with a felony for throwing a chair.
Money:
$11 million dollars was forfeited from the player’s salary.
