Malice in the Palace revisited

[Juggity]

Grantland has just published an interesting piece on the infamous Pacers-Pistons brawl. (http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7612311/an-oral-history-malice-palace) It's not new information really, but compiled interviews from participants in the event. Pretty much confirms what everybody knew about Stephen Jackson (that he's mostly a dumb thug) and Ron Artest (that he's detached from reality and barely aware of his actions).

Best quote comes from Jackson, who was afraid of the fans in the nosebleed seats coming down to the court:


Jackson: I knew we had to get out of this arena before all these guys in the nosebleed seats got down to our section. That's the felons, the guys that really don't care about losing anything. If they come down there, somebody's going to really get hurt.

[jag]

That's a great quote from Jackson. But in a city made up of 85% felons, I'm pretty sure the Palace at Auburn Hills has fairly even distribution when it comes to violent criminals.

[Leetonidas]

I'll never forget when O'Neal knocked that fat guy who stormed onto the court out :lol shit was hilarious

[manufan10]

I'll never forget when O'Neal knocked that fat guy who stormed onto the court out :lol shit was hilarious

That guy will think twice next time before stepping up to someone. :lol

It was a good read. Gained a little perspective of what was going on or not going on in some of their heads.

[Magua]

That's a great quote from Jackson. But in a city made up of 85% felons, I'm pretty sure the Palace at Auburn Hills has fairly even distribution when it comes to violent criminals.

That city needs something more. They need a cop who doesn't need to eat or sleep.

[Giuseppe]

Grown men physically fighting in public is a terrible sight. That is why professional wrestling is such a popular "sport." It gives Americans everything they want, and just the way they want it:::"of course it's fake, Americans wouldn't have it any other way."

[JoeTait75]

Chairs flying, fists flying, and yet no one was seriously hurt. It was like a fight scene in an episode of "the A-Team."

[Trill Clinton]

I shed a thug tear watching captain jack go ham. Much respect to that man.

[Monostradamus]

Still don't think Ben Wallace or the Pistons organization got their fair share of the blame. It was their player that started it, it was their players that kept it going, it was their fans that attacked the Pacers, and it was their shitty security in their shitty arena that let things get so out of control. Considering what Artest and Jackson got, Wallace should have been suspended at least 20 games for the incident.

[cheguevara]

"in europe a few of these players would have been crucified midcourt"

[Trill Clinton]

Still don't think Ben Wallace or the Pistons organization got their fair share of the blame. It was their player that started it, it was their players that kept it going, it was their fans that attacked the Pacers, and it was their shitty security in their shitty arena that let things get so out of control. Considering what Artest and Jackson got, Wallace should have been suspended at least 20 games for the incident.


True dat. Wallace was the NBA's favorite coon at the time, though so he got a pass.

[jeebus]

I just watched the whole thing again on google video.

:cry Beautiful memories :cry

[Brazil]

Tim Donaghy, one of the officials that night, said, "I'm sure they were in the game just so they could pad their stats. That's the reason why you see players in games even when they're 20 or 25 points down with four or five minutes to go. It's all about the coaches not wanting the players pissed off at them and making sure they have their game averages."


the classy spurs would never do that

[Spur_Fanatic]

I just watched the whole thing again on google video.

:cry Beautiful memories :cry

Feels like yesterday.

[pookenstein]

Fun read. It made the german loss to France a little more bearable because I concentrated on the piece mostly.

[manufan10]

I wonder what this would have looked like in the Twitter era.

[HarlemHeat37]

:lol Artest having the balls to fight a scrawny, White fan, instead of stepping up to Ben Wallace..

[Giuseppe]

..he stepped up to Pierce just fine.

tee, hee.

[manufan10]

They need to have a Malice at the Palace reunion, and get everyone to come in and give an interview. It would be like what MTV does after the Real World season finishes. That would be something interesting to watch, imo.

[Koolaid_Man]

Grantland has just published an interesting piece on the infamous Pacers-Pistons brawl. (http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7612311/an-oral-history-malice-palace) It's not new information really, but compiled interviews from participants in the event. Pretty much confirms what everybody knew about Stephen Jackson (that he's mostly a dumb thug) and Ron Artest (that he's detached from reality and barely aware of his actions).

Best quote comes from Jackson, who was afraid of the fans in the nosebleed seats coming down to the court:


best dam thing ever happened to the league IMO...I was amped and hyped up when Artest went into the stands...I won't be a hypocrite about it I loved seeing that...I wish more fights between players and fans would break out tbh...I love all that bad and negative shit

[JamStone]

Still don't think Ben Wallace or the Pistons organization got their fair share of the blame. It was their player that started it, it was their players that kept it going, it was their fans that attacked the Pacers, and it was their shitty security in their shitty arena that let things get so out of control. Considering what Artest and Jackson got, Wallace should have been suspended at least 20 games for the incident.

Agree only to a certain extent. Ben Wallace definitely shares some blame. But his actions didn't cause the "riot." Ben Wallace didn't force Ron Artest to lay down on the scorer's table. Ben Wallace didn't throw a cup at Artest while he was laying down. Ben Wallace didn't run into the stands. He was at fault as far as being one of the guys that did something to lead up to the events. But Artest (and S-Jax for that matter) went well beyond anything anyone could have reasonably predicted once they got into the stands and started swinging on fans. No matter what led up to that, once they did that, they carry the most blame. But I do think Ben Wallace should have gotten punished more than he did.

I think the two people who didn't and don't get enough blame for what happened are Rick Carlisle and Larry Brown. What were all the starters on both sides doing in the game with less than 2 minutes in a 20 point blowout? It was asking for trouble.

As far as the Pistons organization and security, Detroit sports radio was talking about it today, and one of the guys said the Palace had enough security. But in all of their contingency plans for whatever might happened, players going into the stands and fighting fans was never part of something they prepared for. Take that for what it's worth, but until something like that actually happens, I don't think many stadiums would have handled it much better. But who knows?

[romsey31]

Tim Donaghy, one of the officials that night, said, "I'm sure they were in the game just so they could pad their stats. That's the reason why you see players in games even when they're 20 or 25 points down with four or five minutes to go. It's all about the coaches not wanting the players pissed off at them and making sure they have their game averages."


the classy spurs would never do that

Get off your own dick will ya? The Pacers were actually short handed that night, Reggie Miller and a few others were out, along with the fact that the games was close (within 5) until a few minutes left in the 4th, no way was anyone padding stats, along with the fact that it was a very important game to the team..

[JamStone]

Get off your own dick will ya? The Pacers were actually short handed that night, Reggie Miller and a few others were out, along with the fact that the games was close (within 5) until a few minutes left in the 4th, no way was anyone padding stats, along with the fact that it was a very important game to the team..

Fair. I had to go back to the game boxscore to check. I guess it wasn't as big of a blowout as I had thought. However, 11 point game with 1:59 left and a timeout. Still think it's too close to chance it, I guess I can go with that. Billups foul with :57 seconds left and S-Jax makes both free throws, 14 point game. Less than a minute and because of the foul, dead ball situation so substitutions could have been made. That's when the benches should have been cleared on both sides. Pacers were short handed, but still had 4 guys on the bench. Pistons took out Billups, Pacers took out JO. 14 points, :57 seconds left. All the ruckus started at the :45 seconds mark. Still avoidable if the two coaches did what should have been done.

[FkLA]

Good read. Kinda makes Jaxs actions a bit more understandabe tbh, I was aways under the impression that he squared up against the Piston players+went up to swing at fans for no other reason than being a dumb thug...but it actually seems that the dumb thug in him came out as a result of other peoples actions not on its own imo.

[rayjayjohnson]

Didn't see one reference to Bill Simmon's dad. Times they are a-changing.

[Brazil]

Get off your own dick will ya? The Pacers were actually short handed that night, Reggie Miller and a few others were out, along with the fact that the games was close (within 5) until a few minutes left in the 4th, no way was anyone padding stats, along with the fact that it was a very important game to the team..

I didn't realize untill today that there was pacers fans on this forum

[DMC]

That city needs something more. They need a cop who doesn't need to eat or sleep.
Joe Arpaio?

[DMC]

Too bad it wasn't in HD tbh.