Brawl at the Palace

[HOLLYWOOD]

The fans have no right to throw things at players. It is good he hit that sneaky guy that hit him with that bottle. Maybe he will not do this again and use his head if he has one left!! Great punches thrown. Thugs?? Come one you wouldn't do anything as a country boy if someone threw something at you or did something to you. This is real life not fantasy land because they are NBA players, jealousy comes into play!

[theoneandonly]

TAE says that the fans come with the territory... that statement isn't compltely true. Sure players in all sports need to be thick skinned to deal with the constant verbal harrasment they take each and every game... Did Artest go into the stands because that guy called him a name.. no! Artest was defending himself from a tough guy that thought he could throw something at Artest. What if that would have been Michael Jordan that got hit in the face with the cup? Then I guess it would be ok for him to go after him b/c Jordan was a 'good guy'. Since Artest has this 'bad boy' label on him everyone instantly jumps to conclusions when his name comes up.

Regardless of how much money NBA players make they are still doing their job when they are on the court. So what if they are overpaid... they were blessed or worked hard enough to get where they are and they deserve to be able to walk onto the court and not have to worry about getting hit in the face with a cup of beer.

[The Ancient Enemy]

He didn't even go after the guy who threw it. He blindly ran into the crowd and tackled somebody. The guy he "attacked" looked like a 17 year old kid. Way to go, Artest. You're a role-model for everybody. He did not get hit in the face with a baseball or a shovel. An empty plastic cup landed on his chest. Watch the replay. He should have blown that off. People throw stuff. When you play in an opposing arena, you get boo'd, and sometimes get things thrown at you. Face it, the NBA is basically a place where criminals go who aren't in jail because people can make too much money off of them.

[foghorn]

I don't think Jordan would have ever gone into the stands, though I may be wrong. He definitely would have clocked someone, though.

I heard on TV that Wallace's brother just died recently. Is that true. If it is, he definitely wasn't thinking straight, though that's no excuse for his reaction. That, combined with the natural rivalry between him and Artest -- arguably the two best defenders in the league -- as well as the history of bad feelings between the two teams Dawg referred to -- set the stage for something crazy to happen.

Artest truly is sick. He's got a history of this kind of thing. His lying on the scorer's table was just as much a taunt as if he would have flipped the bird or yelled at fans. Hey, he wanted time to promote his cd -- he's gonna get it.

Stern can be a real hard **** and he hates this kind of stuff. I agree with LP -- a season's suspension would be fitting. To my mind, what those guys did was as bad -- no, worse -- than personal drug abuse. Maybe then this thuggery will stop. For most of my life I lived for the NBA season -- but now it's all testosterone and the grappling that's called hard-nosed defense by some but is really a variant of Greco-Roman wrestling. In the mean time, hardly anyone can shoot a jump shot, fast-breaks are few and far between, and too many players think they're bigger than the game.

On a funnier but still dangerous note, I guess, I was listening to an AM radio sports talk show from Detroit last night. (Don't know what station except it's pretty clear.) Anyway, people were calling in about the brawl. One guy who was there said that among the stuff that was thrown were bras and women's panties wrapped around batteries. He also said someone threw (and I'm not making this up) a personal vibrator.

Now something like that can put out an eye! I guess it's time the NBA makes people check their sexual aids at the door as well as food and beverages.

[CRLionDawg]

The closest event to this tragedy was the 2003 ALCS in Boston. It involved the Yankee bull pen and a few fans nearby. I dont think much came of it though.

[count2infinity]

just a quick update...
Pacer suspensions:
Artest- out for season
Jackson- 30 games
O'Neal- 25 games
Johnson- 5 games
Miller- 1 game
Piston Suspensions:
Wallace- 6 games
Billups- 1 game
Campbell- 1 game
Coleman- 1 game

*all suspensions are without pay

[The Ancient Enemy]

Honestly, that is very surprising. I figured they'd give them a 5 game suspension each.

[HOLLYWOOD]

Why would you want to mess with those athletes anyway?? Stupid in my opinion! all you are asking for is a big black eye which I am sure a few of those guys got after that brawl. Use your heads fans

[The Ancient Enemy]

Didn't look like the fans were too scared. Those players are just people, everybody hurts from a punch in the face.

[CRLionDawg]

That will really devastate the Pacers season. It will be interesting to see how things unfold the next time the Pistons go to Indiana.