Basketbrawl 2004

by Mark Ortega

                 On November 19^th, one of the most outrageous and despicable acts in modern sports history was witnessed. It was a National Basketball Association regular season contest between the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons, which started off like any normal game.

                With 45.9 seconds remaining in the game and the Pacers ahead by a lot, Pacers forward Ron Artest committed what at best could be considered a hard foul on Pistons center Ben Wallace. Wallace took offense to the foul and pushed Artest hard in the face, setting up a confrontation and an emptying of the benches. Artest decided to lie across the scorers table and take a break, and that was when all hell broke loose.

                Soon after being sprawled across the table, a cup full of beer struck Artest in the face. He immediately reacted by running into the stands and attacking a fan (who may or may not be the perpetrator) with punches. Other fans around the area tried pulling Artest off and even threw punches at him. Stephen Jackson, one of Artest’s teammates, decided it was a good idea to help Artest and charged into the stands and helped throw some punches. Jackson was one of the people who charged Wallace earlier in the original incident, and it looked as though he was just looking for a fight.

                Fans were rioting in the stands and the mob mentality definitely was a factor here. Soon fans were on the court, and that’s where the most serious damage was done. A Pistons fan went onto the court towards Artest and they met face to face. There was a slight pause which was soon abandoned when Artest threw a punch and was then held back. Not long afterwards, another Pistons fan who was already falling onto the ground caught a Jermaine O’Neal right hook to the face which came while running at full speed and knocked the fan to the hardwood floor.

                The security had no control over the arena. They were going after all the wrong people; in fact, an officer threatened “Mr. Nice Guy” Reggie Miller with mace when Miller was just trying to get his teammates away from the ruckus. As the players were finally escorted off the court after the game was called, fans were still throwing popcorn and beer.

                After it was all said and done, nine players were suspended totaling up to 173 total games. Artest was suspended for the rest of the season (losing 4.95 million dollars from his 6.2 million dollar salary), Jackson was lost for 30 games (1.7 million of his 5.1 million base salary), O’Neal for 25 games (4.1/14.8). Those three Pacers players were the top scorers for their team and will be gone for at least 25 games, dealing a crushing blow to their team.

                Soon after, ESPN analysts covered it blow by blow and gave their opinion on things. All of the analysts agreed that any NBA player would have done the same thing (which is hard to believe) and that the fans got what they deserved. This event will have a huge effect on the organization, mainly due to the footage shown of adults shielding their crying children and trying to get out of there. It is highly doubted that these young fans will ever want to return to a professional game after what they witnessed.

                The NBA dealt with the situation pretty well in my opinion. Although it wasn’t instigated by the players, a player should never enter the stands or hit a fan unless their life is in danger. A beer cup poses no serious threat to anyone’s life. Artest should have taken a lesson from Carl Everett who not long ago was hit by a fan’s cell phone and decided to press charges. There were easier ways to go about dealing with it and Artest acting like an irresponsible individual in how he reacted. Now his team is without their top three scorers and his actions have hindered his team’s chances of making the playoffs. It has yet to be determined if charges will be carried out, but from this reporter’s view, I expect the law to be upheld to the most minimal degree.