HOLY FUCK! Pacers/Pistons game has HUGE fight with Fans!
 

Turn on ESPN, Pacers beat the Pistons at Detroit and with 40 some seconds left in the game a near fight almost broke out with Artiest of the Pacers and Wallace of the Pistons and after getting separated Ron was “laying down” on the scorers table and a fan threw a drink on Artiest who then went after the fan and all hell broke lose.

In all my years of watching the NBA I have NEVER seen this anywhere, The Pistons were trying to separate the Pacers and fans as the Pacers were getting hit and hitting back on fans…. Thankfully ½ the arena was empty so the riot was contained somewhat…..

Unreal!

Game was called and Pacers won in a convincing way.

What a great rivalry that just got more heated and now takes an ugly turn.

haven't seen it yet..... (there's a game on right now) but it sounds interesting...... I guess Artest may get some time off afterall....

That was a totally different angle then what our station showed last night in the replays. That one didn't show the drink that was thrown at Artest while he was at the table.

The players shouldn't have done what they did, but those so called fans were a piece of crap. |angry|

Oh man - Artest fucking clocked that one fan! |knockout|

I just turned on ESPN & they were finishing up one of what I assume are many small pieces on the fight...errr...game. I can;t wait to see the other angles :D

holy crap!! gonna be interesting how this plays out....definately everyone involved shares some of the blame.

I just saw it all on ESPN & al I can say is "Holy Shit!"

That dork fan in the glasses & hat didn't look like he'd be someone to throw a drink - the one that hit Artest while he was acting like none of this was his fault & laying on the score table like a fool.

And that chair that went flying thru the air could have really hurt someone.

What did look sorta funny was when Tinsley (I think that's his name) came back out of the dressing room looking to swing one of those dustpan's that has the long handle on it - that would've got fucking ugly.

Plus, I don't think that foul was that bad :D

Artest is fucked. He'll be fined and suspended.

Ben Wallace is a fuckin' idiot. The NBA needs to nip this in the butt. Guys like Wallace are a problem with the league as far as I'm concerned. Before the fans got involved he actually was inciting the fans by pounding on his chest. That got the fans more excited.

Also Wallace started this thing by pushing Artest after a hard foul. GROW UP! And this is where the NBA needs to step up and hand out automatic suspensions for ANYONE pushing another player during the game. Fouling is part of the game. Fouling a player to be sure there is no way he'll make a layup is part of the game.

Take it like a man! It's part of the game you paid millions to play.

The NBA needs 2 things. Suspensions for unnecessarily hard fouls and suspensions for pushing or retaliating for any reason.

Man just saw it on ESPN wild stuff maybe the NBA is trying to get some NHL fans |jester|

Good point! Maybe that was staged? |jester|

Thanks to GG, I replied to one of his post on this threads subject in a different thread so I am posting it here. Way to go GG... fuck up the threads.

*******

GG, Ha....

MatrixFan, That fat guy has zero chance for $, he was trespassing and approached Artest and the video clearly shows him making a "let's go" move before Artest nails him.

Now the first little worm that Artest went after will have some $ UNLESS they find video it was him who threw the drink.

ESPN interviewed the Chief of Police of Auburn Hills and he was asked by Jim Gray "as a lawman, if someone throws a drink or something at you, can you justify self defense" and the Cop said "yes, but it is a Judgment call on behalf of the prosecutor"

I do not think any player will get more then 5 games, and fines will be pretty high, but I see a lot of fans losing season tickets and getting arrested.

Artest is a nut, always have been, but he did nothing wrong, that "hard foul" wasn’t that hard; he is a guy who plays the same when he is winning by 100 and when he is losing by 100. He might have been a "smart ass” by laying on the table like that, but it was more to prove to Stern "look at me, I did not fight, so do not suspend me"

Wallace just got his balls busted at home and was embarrassed so he lost it. But I do not think Wallace started it either, the sale of beer late in the game had a lot to play with it as well.

The thing that impressed me was Sheed was trying to make sure no more fans got to the Pacers.

This was the first game I got to see Jackson play. He has all the talent he needs to "replace" Reggie, and he has youth so I am stoked about that, but HOLY SHIT he is just as nutty as Artest... Did you see him challenging Wallace and Hunter and flipping them off and then when he backed up Artest in the stands.... wow....'

Dec 25 @ IND
Jan 27 @ IND
March 25 @ DET

3 games to make sure you watch and then the Eastern Conference Finals..... wow.

fuck off Tom :D

Total Bullshit!

Artest, Oneal and Jackson all suspended indefinitely

i don't disagree with the suspensions. the players had absolutely no business going into the stands after a fan, that is what security is there for. BUT, i think their should definately be charges/fines brought against the fans that were visible on videotape throwing punches/bottles/etc. As they keep saying on espn, if you throw or pour a beer at/on someone on the street, thats a criminal offense.

O’neal was not once in the stands.... he is being suspended for punching a "fan" ON THE COURT WHO JUST CHALLENGED HIS TEAMMATE.

Should players be suspended? Yes.

Indefinitely? Hell No.

By doing this Stern is saying it is ok to throw shit and to run on the floor and attack players.

personally, I think Artest needs to go for at least 20 games.... 1/4 of the season.

It would have never escalated to the level that it did if Artest did not charge the stands. He got hit with a mostly empty cup of beer. It should have been handled by security and the police.

He was completely out of line in going up into the stands... no call for it at all.... I will give him this... it did ALMOST hit him in the face.

Wallace should get the usual 3 game fighting idiot suspension and Jackson and O'Neal should get just below Artest.

i thought i heard the suspensions are indefinate UNTIL the investigation is completed. i thinking stern is just making sure the players aren't on the court until everything is evaluated.

The Moon must be in a odd orbit....

Huge fight on the field between Clemson and South Carolina.

If O'neal didn't go up into the stands, then yes, he should get a lower suspension. I thought they said last night that he did. Altho he did coming running and punch a guy that was just standing there... of course the guy had no business standing where he was and pretty much got what he deserved.

I agree! The only way to control these guys is hit them with a hard enough fine and suspension that no matter how mad they get they won't do that again.

It's like life:
When someone makes you so mad that you'd like to kill them but you don't. Why? The penalty is too severe so you restrain yourself rather than going to jail.

What's the penalty in the NBA? 3 games and $100,000 on their $8million they made? It's a joke!

That's why the NHL took Bertuzzi out for the year, playoffs included. That should make another player think twice before retaliating endlessly.

Torn
I think the suspension will be determined once everything is evaluated.

Wallace should get more than 3 games too for inciting the fans and starting the entire mess IMO with the pushing after the foul.

As soon as I saw that happening, I tried to get to my online betting site from my cel phone's internet access... No lines for the Magic Pacers game tonight. All day today, I tried to put a bet in on the game, but it wasn't showing up until very late in the day.

Well these guys are supposed to be roll models for kids :( If they were attacked well then let the police take care of it they should have just walked off the court not acted like that were in a bar room brawl

I've been bartending all day, and of course, have seen every conceivable angle ESPN can show of this thing.

I may be prejudiced because I am from Indiana.

But.......

How can Detroit not be fined or something for fan behavior? At the very least, the organization has made a decision to allow late game alcohol sales which contributed to the whole mess. Or at least I hope alcohol did. I would hate to think people are that fucking stupid acting all on their own.

I saw one clip where someone was complaining how he'd been punched in the eye by Artest. Not a mark on him, but he said he'd been punched. Now, he says he was on the court, but only to defend his friend, and neither he or his friend said or did anything to upset anyone. Uh huh.

I do not think Artest should have jumped into the stands. You can't condone that. However, I am sick of fans who think because they can afford a ticket and $8 draft beer that they have free license to be morons. I would think that if it had been Pacer fans who essentially inticed a riot.

The arguement could be made that it was only a beer to the face, or a near beer to the face, or whatever. That may not seem like a big deal. However, if I am working at a McDonald's and you come in and toss a drink in my face, you would likely be guilty of assault or something of that nature.

As for Wallace, he's a cryass girly man. Big fucking deal, he got fouled. It wasn't called flagrant by the refs right there, but he felt the need to take things into his own hands.


@ Torn. Didn't you almost think you were watching the General of old when that chair went flying though the air? ;)

Nice... Stern just gave the East to Detroit.

Washington punches Rudy T who almost died and had spinal fluid dripping from his nose and he got 26 games.

Artest 72 games
Jackson 30 games
O'neal 25 games
Johnson 5 games
Miller 1 game

Artest fucked up, no argument there, but to get the "Death Penalty"?

Stern went way over board, I have always thought he did a good job, but this time he way beyond fucked up.

I hope Artest sues the NBA and the Palace for lack of security.

Holy fuck, that was harsh!

I expected Artest to be gone for a long time but not the the year. Seems too extreme to me.

The only thing I like is hopefully this will teach these players that it's not the streets of New York, it's a business. Act like it and let the authorites deal with idiot fans.

If you attack someone on the street like that then you'd be charged with assault. Hopefully those idiotic fans get charged!!

I wrote the same thing in a long ranting email to the NBA, but I said I hoped it was for contribution to assault via alcohol sales, not lack of security.

I don't know what's in the mind of the NBA or what brought them to the decisions they made. I can't say that I disagree with them though. Getting a beer thrown on me might piss me off, but by one player entering the stands, it escalated into a riot situation. If the player didn't go to the stands, security could have hauled the whole section somewhere if they had to and charged the guy who threw it. If the player never went into the stands, there probably wouldn't have been a resulting fan or fans on the court challenging players. Its really a two wrongs don't make anyone right scenario. The fan who threw it was wrong, but turning the arena into free-for-all WWF is bad for the NBA, bad for all sports, and a lot of people complain that the overpaid players aren't even good examples for kids anymore....beating a fan sure helps that image, overreacting and resulting to violence doesn't help that image. If somone in the crowd died from stampeding or one of these finely tuned athletes landing a perfect blow would all the opinions change?

I'm sorry (really its not personal just debate) but once Artest crossed into the stands, his arguement about lack of security loses all credibility with me. He put himself in harms way instead of yelling for guards to go kick the guys ass. Late alcohol sales is a possible angle but again, the event was that a beer (could be a coke) was tossed at a player, the player(s) escalated it to being outright violent. I'm sure that an angry sober fan could be just as stupid to toss something but agreed that its less likely.

My immediate reaction as I watched the whole thing unfold was that Artest would get kicked from the NBA altogether.....there are constant arguements about how athletes are payed a lot of money, should quit their bitching, and be a role model.....either they are held to a standard or not. I say let em jump in the stands if they want, but lets go back to paying them far smaller salaries and lower ticket prices, etc. They are paid to be Professional Basketball Players.....somewhere they have to be held to being Professional.

(ok you can all hate me now hehe)

http://espn.go.com/outdoors/hunting/...1/1928765.html

and people think Ron Artest is Crazy

I think they're going to hold off on criminal charges until the end of the month but I think there will have to be some in order to avoid major lawsuits. The fan that threw the drink should be charged with a couple of different crimes.

On one hand the NBA players are paid grotesque amounts of money and should act as role models but unfortunately this is the exact type of behavior that will get him more attention then scoring 40+. He acted like it was ballroom brawl and now has to accept responsibility for it.

On the other hand he's a professional athlete that’s torqued up by his coach, fans and teammates to a level of hyper activity so this stuff can happen at any time.

I guess the bottom line is that if he can't handle being that torqued up then what else can the NBA do? They’re letting this guy come back without first proving he can handle being a professional athlete. At least I haven’t heard of any counseling that’s being required. Normally when people get dangerously out of control some type of counseling is required. The suspension may be harsh but they’re letting him come back without forcing him to deal with his anger management issues and that’s getting off easy.

What's so unusual about footie match violence? :D

Jermaine O'Neal's suspension for his role in the Pacers-Pistons brawl is reduced by 10 games. But will the NBA honor the arbitrator's ruling? Ron Artest's ban stands.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1951675

I agree and disagree; they are once more saying that Washington almost killing Rudy T is better then what Artest did, 72 games is just too much, I think 25 games is pushing it.

I also saw Larry Brown say he almost quit the Pistons over this, and I am shocked they are struggling like they are.

A dark dark year for the NBA when 2 of the best teams get fucked over a stupid mistake that could have been prevented by none other then the NBA itself.