pacers fight

[kurei kun]

tonight's pacer and piston game ended with a crazy fight.

wallace shoved artest for a rough foul. small shoving match ensues. artest lies down to stay out of it, then a cup from out of nowhere lands right on artest's face

BIG
MISTAKE

artest explodes and sucker punches the fool who threw the cup. two more fans grab artest and assault him. another fan throws another drink at artest and stephen jackson sucker punches that fool

chaos ensues.

pistons go to indiana on christmas day

holy shit!

[lethal]

http://home.comcast.net/~superfx/stuff/artest.avi

Video of part of the incident.

[ism]

On the bright side, the talking heads will shut up about the MNF "controversy." I wonder what Bill O'Reilly's got to say about this.

[ellsworth81]

so who else saw that bomb-ass brawl/fight? there will be hell to pay, for sure!

i saw some clips, and it was hellacious!

[mr. x]

yah, floormates were playing it over and over, crazy fight, cuz normally the espn playbacks show you the juicy bits which last 15 secs at most but this was an all night brawl

[yoMAMA]

why i don't watch the NBA anymore......what a retarded league!

[lethal]

Check the "Other Christmas Day game" thread.

[Hiroshi2]

I was at a high school basketball game where we had our own little fight. Nothing like this, obviously though. I saw clips of this this morning.



What really tripped me out was Ron Artest. In one part of the fight, Ron Artest was hit by a fan in the stands and then he climbed up and over like 10 rows of seats just to whup his ass. The fan had this real scared look on his face like "oh shit! He's coming after me! He's really coming after me!" That was funny as hell.

And then after that, another fan on the court ran up to Ron Artest like he was gonna fight him, but judging by the look on his face, he changed his mind once he saw how big Artest was. It was too late though, Artest threw one blow across his face and knocked him out


I don't care what nobody says, that shit was good entertainment. Artest looked like fuckin King Kong the way he was knocking out dudes at the Palace last night

And btw, wtf was Jermaine O'Neal's ugly ass doing in the fight? Suspend him for sure, just for being stupid and jumping into some shit he had nothing to do with.

[Irezumi Kiss]

I'm not sure if I'm more ashamed that it happened cuz it's truly sad and pathetic...or the fact that I find watching the fight clip fascinating and maliciously entertaining, in the "oooooooooooh his ass got OWNED" sorta way...

[Hiroshi2]

^ It was entertainment to me, I can't wait till Christmas Day (when they play each other again).

[Irezumi Kiss]

At least until the next Yankees'-Red Sox brawl!

But think of all them lawsuits that's gonna come out of this...woooo boy, some people are gonna get PAID.

[kurei kun]

i think it's fucked up if the fans don't get penalized for this shit.

i smell the players union pleading to david stern to get payment from the fans or even automatic forfeit of detroit's next 10 games or however number of games the pacers get suspended.

could we see an early lockout?

[Hiroshi2]

I don't think it's gonna be that deep. But I suspect they'll stop selling alcohol at NBA games, and may even put up a fence or some other type of small barrier between fans and the players, cause that shit that happened last night was crazy, seeing Jackson, O'Neal, and Artest going into the stands randomly knocking folks out.

[Faithless]

So, what, the guy that disrupted the Vibe show make it to this game, as well?

[kurei kun]

plus this also brings up the lack of security in stadiums. how easily could a fan shot someone or brought a weapon in or use something as a weapon to hurt the players because a few fans were on the floor at one point.

and jermaine oneal knocked the fat dude out. fool was shipped out of the arena on a stretcher. the idiot deserves it.

[moJo]

i felt bad for the kiddie fans who were there watching the whole thing go down.

[Hiroshi2]

^ No but he will be performing in concert here in Birmingham next week.

[onnihs]

http://www.clickondetroit.com/index.html has the entire fight.

i don't understand how this fight escelated to what it became. it seemed to only be a fight between wallace and that other dude. i guess people just like to fight. shrugs.

[Hiroshi2]

^ Dumb ass fans. I think Ron Artest was justified in his actions, and nobody else in the arena last night was. End of story. Artest should get off lightly - like maybe a 2 game suspension, Ben Wallace needs a 10-to-15 game supsension for starting the shit, and Jermaine O'Neal and Stephen Jackson should be out for the rest of the season just for jumping into some shit they had nothing to do with. And the fans who did it should be banned from all NBA games, for at least a couple of years.

[truMp]

I don't think it's gonna be that deep. But I suspect they'll stop selling alcohol at NBA games, and may even put up a fence or some other type of small barrier between fans and the players, cause that shit that happened last night was crazy, seeing Jackson, O'Neal, and Artest going into the stands randomly knocking folks out.

I really doubt they would stop the sales of alcohal, imagine the profit that they would lose.

[kurei kun]

rumor has it that both jackson and oneal have 20 game suspensions, artest with 30, and ben wallace (the starter of all this mess imo) gets away with 5.

video shows that the fool with the wallace shirt (the dude with the hat who grabbed artest from behind and assaulted him) threw the cup.

three starters from the pacers played the ENTIRE game with only having 6 active players on the squad. tonight. that's a ton of heart.

i guess the christmas game isn't going to be too fun.

[tvbdude]

I doubt alcohol is a factor in this. people are crazy to do things like that you know

[Faithless]

Wasn't Artest the one who committed the hard foul?

You could say that Ben Wallace was justified in reacting.

Yeah, the fan had no right in throwing his drink from the stands, but Artest should have been smarter (even though the incident is enough to raise anybody's blood).

The first thing that came to my mind when I saw Artest go up in the stands, "what the fuck does he think he's doing?"

One strong man, Artest, is not going to be any match for a bunch of drunk, ready-to-fuck-you-up fans. Artest got lucky that he didn't end up with a knife in his back.

Artest should not get off lightly. Neither should any other player seriously involved in this really low point in the history of the NBA.

I think some in the sports news are saying 20 game suspensions (or something like that) are really in the works.
.

Commentary on Artests reactions --

Ron Artest has no business in the NBA (http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/basketball/10229363.htm?1c)
By MICHAEL ROSENBERG

Detroit Free Press


AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - Go away, Ron Artest. Go far, far away.

Last week, you were an amusing circus act.

For much of Friday night, you were the best basketball player in the building.

And then you were something beyond Idiot and several miles past Nuts.

And now you need to disappear - not for a week, not for a month, and not for any amount of time that can be defined in conventional basketball terms. We're not measuring this in games missed. It goes beyond that.

An intense regular-season basketball game morphed into one of the ugliest nights in sports history Friday, and it's all because of Artest, the Pacers forward. Without him, there is no riot at the Pistons-Pacers game. Period.

Let's replay what happened: Artest committed a hard foul on Ben Wallace, which happens. Wallace retaliated with a shove to Artest's face, which was over the top, but it happens.

Artest went to lie down on the scorers' table like a sunbather and briefly grabbed a headset from the Pacers' broadcast team - which doesn't happen, but wasn't a huge deal. As other players scuffled, a fan threw a water bottle at Artest's head.

That was stupid and irresponsible - BUT IT HAPPENS. It shouldn't, but it does. And the expected level of decorum for players and coaches is higher than it is for fans.

Then Artest jumped up and ran into the stands with fists flying. He got there so fast, he almost knocked me over before I knew he was there.

Stupid me, I was watching the court.

Then Pacers Jermaine O'Neal, Eddie Gill and Steven Jackson jumped into the stands. Pistons broadcaster Rick Mahorn, trying to play peacemaker, followed. It was hard to tell who was trying to break up fights and who was trying to start one. Fans screamed "I punched Artest!" Or, if they were on the receiving end, "He hit me! He hit me!"

The next thing you knew, Artest coldcocked somebody, and O'Neal was said to have done the same, and chairs flew at the Pacers.

And a lot of it was inexcusable. But none of it would have happened if Artest had done what athletes are trained to do forever: ignore the fans.

You never, ever, EVER run into the stands. And if you dispute that, please tell me one time, just when, when a situation got better when a player bolted into the crowd.

As Palace President Tom Wilson said, "we're paid a lot of money" to maintain poise in that situation.

"I don't know that there was a security failure," Wilson said.

Wrong. Somebody let Artest into the building.

That can't happen for a long time, and it won't. Expect the longest suspension in NBA history. And expect police charges, although none was filed Friday.

What Ron Artest did has nothing to do with sports, nothing to do with the Pacers-Pistons rivalry and very little to do with the water bottle. He has teetered on the wall between sanity and insanity for a while, and Friday he fell on the wrong side. No, not fell. Jumped.

This is obviously a man in need of some serious help. Last week, when he asked coach Rick Carlisle for some time off to promote his CD, he was an amusing sideshow. There goes Ron-Ron again. Ha ha.

And Friday, he played brilliantly. He was the reason the Pacers won, 97-82. Then he was the reason the game ended with 45.9 seconds left.

Over the loudspeakers, fans were asked to leave the Palace. Then, and only then, did the clock wind down from 45.9. It was way, way, way too late.

Finally, long after the game was officially over, the Pacers' team bus departed the parking lot. It moved past the Pistons' cars, all of which were running, so that the Detroit players could make a quick exit. (None of them spoke to the media.)

Rain fell on the Palace parking lot. And as the bus wedged between a dozen or more police cars and a few ambulances, this much was clear: Ron Artest was in the wrong vehicle.

[Faithless]

Artest has a history of hard fouls --
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/254960p-218272c.html

There's a regular season stat for hard fouls?
http://cbs.sportsline.com/nba/stats/leaders/regularseason/yearly/NBA/FF

[yoMAMA]

Ron Artest has been supspended for 30 games.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/basketball/nba/11/21/brawl.suspensions.ap/

[TB4000]

This whole thing was ridiculous. True enough, I'd be ready to go after someone that throws their drink at me, but you have to be smarter than that.

[kurei kun]

artest is done for the year
jermaine oneal is gone for 25
sjax gone for 30
ben wallace gone for 6 (wtf...)
anthony johnson gone for 5 (the hell?)

[Hiroshi2]

I doubt alcohol is a factor in this. people are crazy to do things like that you know





Only beer would make a 5'7" man talk shit and throw cups of beer at a 6'8" pro athlete.

[Hiroshi2]

Artest was the only one provoked. That foul that he commited on Wallace was hardly what I'd call hard, it was typical of anyone defending one of the biggest, strongest post players in the league as he's going in for a dunk. So no Wallace wasn't provoked. Wallace is at fault for pushing Artest so damn hard. The fans in the stands deserved to get their asses whupped for throwing beer at Artest while he was trying to exercise restraint and regain his composure with his teammates.

[Irezumi Kiss]

Artest is out of nearly 5 million clams, not to mention the potential hurting on his endorsement deals...

I know it was fun to watch but that shit is NOT worth losing that much moolah...not compared to the rest of us average shmoes who'll never see that much bank in our lives unless we marry into the Onassis' or stick-and-move The Donald!

[Hiroshi2]

5 million? Out of all the millions he makes.........................that ain't shit. Artest is no Shaq or Kobe, but he ain't struggling to make ends meet, either.......................

[ism]

There's a regular season stat for hard fouls?
http://cbs.sportsline.com/nba/stats/leaders/regularseason/yearly/NBA/FFYeah, the NBA uses it to enact automatic suspensions. Fantasy leagues routinely use it in conjunction with personal fouls (PF) in a positive manner if it's a "thug" league, and in regular leagues, it's a negative thing.

[ism]

Wasn't Artest the one who committed the hard foul?

You could say that Ben Wallace was justified in reacting.A hard foul and a flagrant foul are two different things. That foul wasn't even "hard." Fouls are sometimes a strategic action and that's what happened. Artest was making sure the basket wouldn't be made.

Wallace's reaction was not necessary. After the shove he was still pursuing Artest, and Artest was backing away. Wallace was the one initiating a fight.

[kurei kun]

Artest is out of nearly 5 million clams, not to mention the potential hurting on his endorsement deals...

artest doesn't have any endorsement deals... only la gear and his own company, but that's all.

still i think the players union will amend the penalty to equalize everything.

and funny how stern didn't act on the fans (police will only do so much anyways). always the businessman first then his selfish ass then the sport.

[tvbdude]

Only beer would make a 5'7" man talk shit and throw cups of beer at a 6'8" pro athlete.

the people that threw the cups looks white. maybe they don't like blacks. If I'm that racist I'll do that too even if I'm drinking coke and small in size

[Kris]

the guy busts television cameras. he makes obscene gestures to the crowd and once to a future hall of famer coach in Pat Riley. hes also known to commit flagrant fouls on PURPOSE. matter of fact, in 03, artest was suspended a few times for going over the flagrant foul point limit. the foul he committed on wallace might have not looked hard to us but for Wallace it was hard. i cant blame wallace for acting the way he did considering the background artest has with CHEAP SHOTS. the going into the stands incident is obvious for anybody thats willing to see it from an unbias perspective. if he had kept his cool and let security handle it, the brawl wouldn't have occured. plain and simple. dont get me wrong, i understand his anger. getting beer thrown at you is something that would piss anybody off if it had happened to them. but reacting the way he did is despicable. there were KIDS in the stands. he put them in DANGER by doing what he did. he also ignorantly put his team mates in danger. i'm glad stern laid the hammer on him.

[deez nuts]

ron artest.....rap star.

and guest host at the next vibe awards.

[Faithless]

A hard foul and a flagrant foul are two different things. That foul wasn't even "hard." Fouls are sometimes a strategic action and that's what happened. Artest was making sure the basket wouldn't be made.
Well, I'm looking back at the score, 97-82 (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=241119008). What was the purpose of the hard foul?

I know the purpose of "strategic" fouls. I don't know the purpose, ever, for "hard" fouls.
.
Wallace's reaction was not necessary. After the shove he was still pursuing Artest, and Artest was backing away. Wallace was the one initiating a fight.
That's subjective.

I agree with a lot of the sports guys that you don't know how you'll react until the situation arises (all you can do is try to maintain some amount of composure). The Artest foul was hard, and the Wallace reaction, in his mind, was justified.

[deez nuts]

artest got what he wanted; time off cuz he was tired from working on his rap album during the off season.

artest and young buck should do a rap song together.

and thank god, i didn't take jermaine o'neal in the fantasy draft and a co-worker's trade offer involving artest a week ago in my fantasy basketball league.

[FrankieY18]

anyone have the video? i missed it....and the links that were posted here don't work anymore..i wanna see the entire fight

[deez nuts]

anyone have the video? i missed it....and the links that were posted here don't work anymore..i wanna see the entire fight

onnihs posted a link.


http://www.clickondetroit.com/index.html has the entire fight.

i don't understand how this fight escelated to what it became. it seemed to only be a fight between wallace and that other dude. i guess people just like to fight. shrugs.


the clip i saw on espn on sunday that scene where the indiana's staff members and members of stadium security were shielding artest from the angry crowd throwing stuff at artest when he was heading back to the indiana locker room; reminded me of the scene in the second lord of the rings where the humans were defending helm's deep and throwing everything but the kitchen sink at the orcs that were marching up covered in shields protecting that one orc with the torch to light the bombs.

[FrankieY18]

it's a stream video..i want a downloadable one

[ellsworth81]

onnihs posted a link.





the clip i saw on espn on sunday that scene where the indiana's staff members and members of stadium security were shielding artest from the angry crowd throwing stuff at artest when he was heading back to the indiana locker room; reminded me of the scene in the second lord of the rings where the humans were defending helm's deep and throwing everything but the kitchen sink at the orcs that were marching up covered in shields protecting that one orc with the torch to light the bombs.

that's about the nerdiest thing i think you've said so far. is that really you?

[kurei kun]

when a person touches a player, he has every right to beat the hell out of him charles barkley

[Faithless]

Dad comes to Artest's defense (http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/255530p-218802c.html)
Bad-boy son 'full of love' despite Detroit fisticuffs

BY DARREN EVERSON, MICHAEL O'KEEFFE and BILL HUTCHINSON
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

The father of banned basketball brawler Ron Artest pleaded with fans yesterday, "Don't hate my son."

Ron Artest Sr. of Queens said his son was rightfully defending himself Friday when he hurtled into the stands in suburban Detroit to punch out a beer-hurling jerk.

"Don't hate my son. You don't even know him. Go to Queensbridge. Ask them. They all loved him," the father told the Daily News yesterday, referring to the housing project where the NBA all-star grew up. "Look at Ron's history. He's never hurt anybody. He's never dealt in drugs. ... He's full of love."

Meanwhile, the Indiana Pacers forward made his first extended comments since Friday night's four-minute melee.

"I just wish the situation hadn't turned out the way it turned out. I'm trying to be positive. I'm a big fan of the Nobel Peace Prize," the 25-year-old hoopster told People magazine. "I hope some of the Detroit fans I was interacting with before the game could come to my defense," he said. "[I'd] just like people to know how much I appreciate fans. You know, you've got fans, and 99.9% of them are great - 0.1% are jerks."

The father's and son's comments came a day after NBA Commissioner David Stern doled out a tough sentence, banning Artest for the rest of the season. The punishment amounts to a 73-game suspension, and will cost Artest nearly $5 million. Eight other players received lesser suspensions, ranging from one to 30 games.

Artest's father said Stern went overboard by pumping up the penalty on his son, a former St. John's University star. He said his son, known for flagrant fouls and a fiery temper, was being unfairly tagged a hardwood hooligan.

He said he fears the loss of income this season could hold dire consequences for his son, who has had money woes in the past. He said his son should sue the NBA to recoup his pay, and the Detroit Pistons for failing to control their fans.

But the athlete has concerns far beyond money, his father said. "He was really worried about how the kids were going to feel about him now," the elder Artest said. "Everyone involved should take responsibility, but I apologize on behalf of my son."

Police are considering filing charges against some of the unruly fans. As of yesterday, they had interviewed nine fans, including Detroit season-ticket holder John Green, who allegedly threw the first beer.

Oakland County prosecutor David Gorcyca said he reviewed video of the brawl several times before recognizing Green as his former next-door neighbor.

Video captured Green's underhand toss of a full beer cup that came down on Artest and shows Green sucker-punching Artest as the player lunges at another fan.

But Gorcyca said Green and others who threw beer and debris could be charged only with misdemeanors. He also chastised Artest for overreacting. "Even if someone did throw water, you don't have a license or a green light to punch them," he said.

Green, of West Bloomfield Township., Mich., was not copping to his role in the brawl. "I wish the whole thing didn't happen," Green said. "I'm sure the NBA players that got involved in it wish it never happened, the fans never wished that it had happened. I know I don't. It was awful, it was ugly."

Originally published on November 22, 2004

[deez nuts]

that's about the nerdiest thing i think you've said so far. is that really you?

are you surprised yet strangely titillated?

oooooh baby.

[mrazntre]

I like how fans think they can talk trash, but when it's time to really get down (with their provocation) they turn into little tricks.

too bad ben wallace didn't shove shaq like that last year in the finals.

[Kris]

I like how fans think they can talk trash, but when it's time to really get down (with their provocation) they turn into little tricks.

too bad ben wallace didn't shove shaq like that last year in the finals.

how does shaq have anything to do with this?

[mrazntre]

how does shaq have anything to do with this?

because Wallace picked on someone smaller than him (Artest) and I'd like to see what Wallace would do to someone bigger than him (shaq)

[Kris]

because Wallace picked on someone smaller than him (Artest) and I'd like to see what Wallace would do to someone bigger than him (shaq)

he didn't pick on him. he felt that he was fouled hard by him. artest has a history of doing so. anyway, they found the guy who threw the cup. he WASN'T the guy artest initially went after. sad, he could have at least gone after the correct person.

[moJo]

he didn't pick on him. he felt that he was fouled hard by him. artest has a history of doing so. anyway, they found the guy who threw the cup. he WASN'T the guy artest initially went after. sad, he could have at least gone after the correct person.
yeah, the guy artest went after was this nerdy dude with glasses. while he may not have been the one who threw the drink, it looked like he was throwing *something* at him. peanuts? i dunno, but it was something dinky. he was hiding behind a few people, but they scattered when artest came storming up the stands. hehehe...

[kurei kun]

he didn't pick on him. he felt that he was fouled hard by him. artest has a history of doing so. anyway, they found the guy who threw the cup. he WASN'T the guy artest initially went after. sad, he could have at least gone after the correct person.

the guy who threw the cup was actually the fool wearing the wallace shirt (the one who grabbed him from behind). he also has a criminal record.

[Kuchana]

he didn't pick on him. he felt that he was fouled hard by him. artest has a history of doing so. anyway, they found the guy who threw the cup. he WASN'T the guy artest initially went after. sad, he could have at least gone after the correct person.

is that fan going to press charges? i heard talk on espn that some fans already were considering action.

and by the way, who threw the chair?!

because Wallace picked on someone smaller than him (Artest) and I'd like to see what Wallace would do to someone bigger than him (shaq)

well it's interesting that artest was backing way from a fight with wallace (even though he's the one who fouled him) then he goes all gungho against some fan who threw a cup at him. not saying he shouldn't be pissed but i would have thought artest was better than that. evidently not given his history.

[Kris]

is that fan going to press charges? i heard talk on espn that some fans already were considering action.

and by the way, who threw the chair?!


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6559090/

2 fans file lawsuits and a video still of the guy they think threw the chair.

[TB4000]

I need to hear some more facts about this whole incident. I'm familiar with everyone's history involved, I just want a few testimonies.

[lethal]

I doubt they'll release too much more testimony because of the pending lawsuits and criminal charges. People tend to shut up an only say things when forced to under those circumstances.