Biggest NBA brawl in history left players with $11.2 million fine and caused numerous game suspensions

It’s not uncommon for conflicts to break out in sports, but rarely are the fights so bad that they get their own name.

This is where ‘Malice at the Palace’ stands out.

The infamous NBA brawl broke out during a game between the Indiana Pacers and the Detroit Pistons at the Palace of Auburn Hills on 19 November, 2004, and resulted in fines, suspensions and even an entire documentary.

There was nothing out of the ordinary at the game at first; the Pacers were leading 97-82 and there were 45.9 seconds left.

Then, Ron Artest delivered a hard foul on Ben Wallace, prompting Wallace to shove Artest.

The conflict prompted both players and coaches to spill on to the court, but things seemed to calm down again when Artest lay down at the side of the court.

That is, until a fan threw a cup at him.

Artest flew up from where he was lay and charged into the stands with teammate Stephen Jackson close behind. A full-on brawl broke out, with multiple fans and players getting involved as things descended into chaos.

Even as Artest, Jackson and other Pacers began to make their way to the locker room, fans continued to provoke them by throwing trash and even a chair, resulting in more punches being thrown.

The players quickly knew they were going to be in trouble for their actions. In the years after the brawl, according to The Grantland, Jackson recalled: “After we calmed down, [Artest] looked at me like, ‘Jack, you think we going to get in trouble?’

“Jamaal Tinsley fell out laughing. I said, ‘Are you serious, bro? Trouble? Ron, we’ll be lucky if we have a freaking job.'”

The team were indeed hit with some harsh penalties as a result of the brawl, with NBA commissioner David Stern describing his ‘shock, revulsion and fear’.

Artest received a 73-game suspension, resulting in $5,288,545 in lost salary for his involvement, while Jackson was suspended for 30 games and lost $1,865,854.

Jermaine O’Neal was suspended for 25 games and lost $4,510,975, though this was later reduced to 15 games and $2,706,585.

Numerous players were hit with fines after the fight. (Netflix)

Ben Wallace was out 6 games and $439,024, Anthony Johnson got 5 games and $120,000 and Reggie Miller lost $60,000.

Meanwhile, the Pistons Elden Campbell, Chauncey Billups and Derrick Coleman all got one game each for leaving the bench.

Many of those involved in the fight were also hit with criminal charges as a result of the violent displays.

The NBA underwent an overhaul in response to fight, with NBA commissioner Adam Silver telling IndyStar in 2014: “We always had league security deployed at every (arena), but there were many lessons learned from this incident, so we enhanced the security at every (game) and that included enhancing some of the background of some of the security people as well. …There was a major upgrade after this incident, across the board.”

In 2021, Netflix released a documentary on the fight titled Untold Vol 1: Malice at the Palace.

Featured Image Credit: Netflix

Topics: NBA, Basketball, Netflix, Money, Sport