On Nov. 19, 2004, “The Malice at the Palace” took place after Detroit Pistons center Ben Wallace shoved Indiana Pacers forward Ron Artest after Artest fouled Wallace hard. Artest laid on the scorers table to catch his breath when a fan threw something at him. What followed next was something former NBA Commissioner David Stern wished never happened.
Artest went into the stands and started fighting the fans. His fellow Pacers teammates came into the stands to help him. The Pistons crowd started throwing things at the Pacers as the players were leaving the arena. To this day, it is still the worst fight to have taken place in an NBA game.
The Athletic's Michael Lee caught up with Stern recently and the former commissioner reflected on the unfortunate event:
“I didn’t like it, obviously, because it gave every radio shock jock the opportunity to talk about the ‘punks’ and the ‘thugs,’ which we know were code words for the black players of the NBA,” Stern said. “Maybe it wasn’t our greatest moment — but I didn’t consider that we were hitting rock bottom at all.”
Artest was suspended 73 games, a suspension the league had never seen before.
There have still been fights in the NBA since “The Malice at the Palace,” but nothing as severe as that night back in 2004.
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