This week marks the 20th anniversary of two infamous sports brawls.
The first of these took place on November 19, 2004. Dubbed “Malice at the Palace”, it occurred during a game between the Detroit Pistons and the Indiana Pacers at the Palace in Auburn Hills. With 45.9 seconds left in the game and the Pacers leading 97-82, Ben Wallace of the Pistons was going for a layup when he was fouled from behind by Ron Artest of the Pacers (in which Artest had slapped him across the back). Wallace then shoved Artest, resulting in players and coaches from both teams to try and separate the two.
While Wallace was being restrained, and officials conferred over possibly ejecting him, Artest went and lied down on the announcer’s table in an attempt to be part of the radio broadcast. Wallace then threw a towel at Artest, who briefly got up to retaliate but was quickly restrained.
Moments later, a spectator named John Green threw a cup at Artest, who jumped off the table and ran into the stands, attacking another spectator named Michael Ryan, whom he mistakenly thought had thrown the cup. Artest charging into the stands had caused him to accidentally knock down and step on Pacers radio broadcaster Mark Boyle, resulting in five cracked vertebrae and a head injury.
As Artest was attacking Ryan, players and personnel from both teams ran into the stands in an attempt to break up the fight. However, Stephen Jackson of the Pacers had attacked another spectator who had thrown a cup at Artest while he was being restrained by other spectators.
Artest was eventually removed from the stands, and as he was walking on the court, he was confronted by two spectators named Alvin “A.J.” Shackleford and Charlie Haddad. Artest punched Shackleford in the face, and Haddad shoved Artest. Anthony Johnson of the Pacers came over and hit Haddad in the back in the head. Then Jermaine O’Neal Sr. of the Pacers came over and punched Haddad in the jaw.
Meanwhile, other spectators had either came on the court or were throwing various objects, and they proved to be too much for security personnel and law enforcement. Pistons Coach Larry Brown got on the loudspeaker and pleaded with the fans to stop, but to no avail. Eventually, the referees decided to end the game, giving the Pacers the victory. The Pacers were escorted to the locker room as fans continued to throw objects at them.
In the aftermath, various players from both teams were suspended for one or more games, while Artest was suspended for the rest of the season. As a result, the players who were suspended lost $11 million from their salaries.
The legal consequences for the players involved in the brawl consisted of fines, probation, community service, and anger management counseling. And the legal consequences for the fans consisted of jail time and probation. In addition, Green and Haddad received lifetime bans from Pistons games at the Palace.
There was even controversy surrounding the sports media’s analysis of the brawl, in which some analysts blamed the incident solely on the fans, despite the fact both the fans and the players were to blame. As a result, some analysts were told by network executives that such comments were biased.
The second sports brawl took place the following day at a football game between the University of South Carolina Gamecocks and the Clemson Tigers. With 5:48 left in the fourth quarter and Clemson leading 29-7, South Carolina’s quarterback Syyelle Newton threw an incomplete pass on 4 th and 11. After throwing the ball, he was knocked down and unable to get up due to several Clemson defenders being on top of him. Both benches emptied, and fighting broke out between both teams.
At one point during the brawl, several players from both teams continued to fight each other, taking the fight beyond the end zone where they were confronted by a contingent of law enforcement, who attempted to restore order on the field. Other individual fights that broke out included Daccus Turman of South Carolina hitting Clemson’s Duane Coleman from behind and Clemson’s Yusef Kelly kicking a helmetless Gamecock in the head. Meanwhile, several Gamecock players formed a barricade to protect one of their teammates who had been injured.
After six minutes of chaos, order was restored, and the game concluded without further incident. No further scoring took place, thus giving Clemson a 29-7 victory.
In aftermath, various players from both teams were suspended. In addition, both teams chose not to be in a bowl game as punishment.
Both incidents (particularly the Pacers-Pistons brawl) prompted a series of discussions on sports brawls, including ideas on how to prevent them from taking place and what to do should such incidents occur.
Although sports brawls continued to take place since then, these two particular incidents stand out due to them taking place within 24 hours of each other, and the magnitude they went to.
Hopefully incidents of such magnitude will not happen again.
