Pacers-Pistons brawl

Encyclopedia : P : PA : PAC : Pacers-Pistons brawl

The Pacers-Pistons brawl was an on-court altercation at a National Basketball Association game between the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers, which quickly spread into the stands. The incident took place on November 19, 2004 at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan. This disturbance has led to serious repercussions for those involved from both the NBA and the legal authorities.

Contents

1 The disturbance
2 Suspensions and criminal charges
3 Public reaction
4 Similar incidents occurring the same week
5 See also
6 External links

The disturbance

The incident took place in a game that many had looked forward to for some time. Five months earlier, the Pistons had defeated the Pacers in an intense Eastern Conference Finals series on their way to the NBA title. The November 19 contest, televised nationally on ESPN, would be the first rematch between the two rivals, and emotions figured to run high on both sides.

The brawl began with 45.9 seconds remaining in the game, with Indiana winning 97-82. Piston forward/center Ben Wallace drove to the basket and was about to put up a shot when Pacers forward Ron Artest fouled him. Wallace felt it was a hard foul and was upset at being fouled hard when the game's outcome had effectively been decided. He responded by pushing Ron Artest. Several players from both teams joined the fray, resulting in an altercation.

The focus of the on-court scuffling gradually moved away from Artest. He then climbed up on the scorer's table and laid down on it. Angered by Artest taunting him and pretending to give a radio interview while lying on the table, Wallace threw a towel at him. A spectator, John Green, then threw a cup at Artest while he was lying on the table. Artest responded by charging into the stands and grappling with the man he mistakenly believed responsible (Doug Overturf) triggering a violent response from nearby spectators. Pacers Stephen Jackson and David Harrison followed Artest into the stands, resulting in more punching and grappling with spectators.

Ron Artest escorted off court after the brawl.

Several spectators were struck by Pacer players, while a few retaliated with punches of their own, including Green. Others threw cups of beer and pop at Pacer players. Two spectators angrily walked onto the court. One of them, A.J. Shackleford, confronted Artest, who was making his way back to the court. Artest punched him, starting another melee that eventually included several Pacer players, most notably Jermaine O'Neal, who was shown on video sucker punching another fan, later identified as Charlie Haddad.

The game was abandoned with 45.9 seconds remaining, and the Pacers were awarded a 97-82 win. More beer, soda, ice, popcorn and even a chair were thrown at Pacer players and other personnel as they were escorted from the court. No players from either team spoke to the media before leaving the arena.

It was estimated that nine spectators were injured, though none of the injuries were thought to be serious. Two of the injured were taken to a local hospital.

Suspensions and criminal charges

The NBA doled out suspensions following the incident. They included:

Ron Artest: remainder of the season (73 games in the regular season and Indiana's 13 playoff games, for a total of 86 games).
Stephen Jackson: 30 games.
Jermaine O'Neal: 25 games (later reduced on appeal to 15 games).
Ben Wallace: 6 games.
Anthony Johnson: 5 games.
Reggie Miller, Chauncey Billups, Elden Campbell, Derrick Coleman: 1 game each for leaving their respective benches. (Violation of NBA Rule 12-A-VII-c, "During an altercation, all players not participating in the game must remain in the immediate vicinity of their bench. Violators will be suspended, without pay, for a minimum of one game and fined up to $35,000.")

The suspensions of Artest, Jackson and O'Neal were appealed by the NBA Players Association; only O'Neal's appeal was successful.

The league said that it would review security procedures and alcohol policies at all arenas, and Commissioner David Stern vowed to impose lifetime, leaguewide bans on spectators who cause trouble.

The Auburn Hills Police Department and Oakland County Prosecutor's Office were also investigating and were considering filing criminal charges against the players and spectators involved. In addition, legal actions may be filed in the civil courts; at least two injured spectators filed lawsuits claiming monetary damage. The final legal consequences of this incident for those involved may take months to determine.

On November 20, the Pistons announced they would increase the presence and visibility of security in their arena. The number of armed policemen was to be doubled to about 20, and the number of unarmed security was to be increased by 25 percent. In addition, a protective cover was to be added to the tunnel connecting the court to the dressing rooms. Pistons CEO Tom Wilson said his club was considering banning the spectators involved from any Palace Sports and Entertainment venue, and revoking their season tickets.

On November 30, Oakland County Prosecutor David Gorcyca announced that he will seek charges against all players involved in the melee, "Whoever was involved in fisticuffs will be charged, regardless if they were wearing a jersey. It's obvious there were several Pacer players and fans that dealt blows one fan was even stabbed."

On December 2, Green and Haddad were permanently banned from all future events at the Palace, and Artest filed restraining orders against both Haddad and Green. The order rules that the fans cannot come within 60 feet from Artest, which is the believed distance from where Green threw the cup at Artest.

On December 8, five Pacers and seven Pistons fans were charged, O'Neal was charged with two counts of assault and battery; Artest, Harrison, Jackson, and Johnson were charged with one count each. Five of the fans, including Green, received one count of the same charge; Bryant Jackson, a 35-year-old fan with prior criminal convictions, was charged with felony assault, for throwing a chair. The two fans that were on the court (Shackleford and Haddad) were charged for trespassing. Gorcyca showed the incident in a press conference, to explain why they were being charged.

Later in December, the union's appeal of the longest suspensions went before a federal arbitor. In a decision handed down on December 22, the arbitor upheld the full length of all suspensions except that of O'Neal, which was reduced to 15 games. The NBA appealed to federal court; on December 24, a judge issued a temporary injunction allowing O'Neal to play before a full hearing on the NBA's appeal.

The Pistons and Pacers next played on December 25 at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, with the Pistons winning 98-93 without further incidents. Wallace played, as he had long since completed his suspension. O'Neal, who had already served 15 games of his suspension, also played due to the injunction. Artest and Jackson were still under suspension and unable to participate. Artest, on the way out of Palace, was jumped by three Pistons fans.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}

O'Neal played in two more games, against the New Orleans Hornets and Charlotte Bobcats, before the NBA's case was brought before the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn on December 30. Judge George B. Daniels upheld the arbitor's view, stating in his 21-page decision, "Fighting with or striking a fan has never been characterized as conduct on the playing court." The heart of the NBA's argument against O'Neal was that under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, Commissioner David Stern had absolute authority to pass out suspensions and hear appeals for all on-court incidents. But because O'Neal's behavior was classified by the arbitor and the judge as an off-court incident, arbitration was allowed under the CBA, and thus the arbitor was within his rights to hear the case. This led to a change in the rule under terms of the next Collective Bargaining Agreement.

While the Pacers therefore regained the services of O'Neal earlier than expected, no further appeals were made to reduce Artest's and Jackson's suspensions. The distinction cited by many was that while Artest and Jackson had entered the stands to fight, O'Neal had remained on the court. Jackson returned to the Pacers' lineup on January 26, 2005.

It was later revealed that Auburn Hills police planned to charge additional fans once they are positively identified.

On February 17, 2005, the NBA imposed a new alcohol policy for all NBA arenas. The rules imposed a size limit of 700 mL (24 ounces) for alcohol purchases and a hard cap of two alcoholic beverage purchases for any individual person. Alcohol sales were also banned after the end of the third period.

On March 25, 2005, the Pacers played at the Palace for the first time since the brawl. The game was delayed 90 minutes after a series of bomb threats that were aimed at the Pacers locker room. No explosive devices were found. Two of the key figures in the original incident missed the game, as Artest was still suspended and O'Neal had an injured shoulder.

On March 29, 2005, Bryant Jackson pleaded no contest to a felony assault charge for throwing the chair. On May 3, he was sentenced to two years probation.

In May 2005, the Pistons and Pacers met in the second round of the NBA Playoffs. The Pistons were heavy favorites, as the Pacers' status as serious title contenders was seen to have been erased by the absence of Artest. Indeed, the Pacers periodically had called for Stern to reconsider Artest's suspension during the season, despite a marked lack of receptivity by Stern, and the Pacers' play visibly suffered.

It is currently hoped that, by transpiring without any distracting incidents, the playoff series laid the controversy to rest. The Pistons fell behind 2 games to 1 early, but then clinched the series with three straight wins. The series was mostly memorable for the valiant exit of Pacers icon Reggie Miller, who scored 27 points in his final professional game as the Pacers were eliminated from the playoffs. He retired at the end of the season. The Pistons would advance to the NBA Finals, where they lost to the San Antonio Spurs in seven games.

In January 2006, New York Knicks player Antonio Davis was suspended for five games for entering the stands after his wife was involved in an altercation with another fan. Davis said that he did not want to leave his wife unattended and Knicks coach Larry Brown supported his decision. This re-ignited fears of another player-fan incident. [link]

In June 2006, Dallas Mavericks player D.J. Mbenga was suspended for the remainder of the 2006 NBA Finals for going into the stands. It is said that his wife was being "assaulted," and he was protecting her.

Public reaction

Commentators, and those familiar with the event outside the sports media, were divided over the issues of who should primarily be blamed for the incident. A commonly-voiced opinion is that there is never any valid excuse for a player to go into the stands, no matter how intense the provocation may have been.

Some have also articulated the view that the more physical (and arguably "dirty") style of play that prevails in the NBA's Eastern Conference (to which both the Pistons and Pacers belong), as opposed to the faster, "show-time" style favored by most Western Conference teams, may have been a contributing factor in the melee.

Initially the Detroit fans took a lot of heat for instigating the melee, most notably from the NBA correspondents for ESPN, with John Saunders calling them, "a bunch of punks." However, the correspondents changed their opinions the next day.

Similar incidents occurring the same week

The day after the fight at The Palace, on November 20, there were two fights between players in a college football game between the University of South Carolina and Clemson University — one before the game (the previous year, Clemson had the biggest one-sided match in the history of the series, 63-17, and some bad blood had been part of the game), and a massive 10-minute scrum during the 4th quarter in which state troopers had to get involved, but no fans entered the field. Though not directly related to what happened in Detroit the night before, Clemson head coach Tommy Bowden, son of Florida State University head coach Bobby Bowden, said his players had stayed up the night before, watching what had happened in Detroit. There are still questions as to if the two fights were somewhat inspired by the Detroit brawl. To make matters worse, the fights overshadowed the last game Lou Holtz participated in as South Carolina head coach, as he retired at the end of the season, and handed the coaching reins to Steve Spurrier. Clemson won the game 29-7.

The Atlantic Coast Conference, Clemson's conference, and the Southeastern Conference, South Carolina's conference, reviewed the tapes of both incidents before handing out proper punishments to players. However, both schools imposed a punishment of their own on November 22, by saying they would impose a postseason ban because of the fights.

Both the SEC and ACC suspended players from each school, with the SEC's penalties effective for South Carolina's first game of the 2005-06 season, against Central Florida, while the ACC allowed Clemson to suspend their offending players at various games during the 2005-06 season.

The penalties were criticised by some as too lenient. First, both teams' seniors were able to get away virtually scot-free, as they forced other non-offending players to be punished for their actions by sitting out postseason games which they had earned, and faced no penalties of their own.

Some believe if the schools had allowed postseason play, the penalties would have been stiffer, as the seniors involved in the brawl would have faced suspensions like the non-seniors, at postseason games likely against Minnesota (South Carolina) and Boston College (Clemson). Furthermore, the quality of games which the players would have served their suspension would have been of a better caliber team, and the conferences would have dropped a tougher penalty on the offending non-seniors.

External links