Photo Credit: ALLEN EINSTEIN/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES
Fan Who Threw His Drink At Ron Artest During Malice At The Palace Explained Why
Malice at the Palace was “the most infamous brawl in NBA history. With less than a minute left in the game, a fight broke out on the court between several players. After the fight was broken up, a fan threw a drink from the stands at Pacers player Ron Artest while he was lying on the scorer’s table. Artest then entered the crowd and sparked a massive brawl between players and fans that stretched onto the court.
After the game, the NBA suspended nine players for a total of 146 games, which led to $11 million in salary being lost by the players. Five players were also charged with assault, and eventually sentenced to a year of probation and community service. Five fans also faced criminal charges and were banned from attending Pistons home games for life.
In a documentary about the incident, that I somehow missed until today, the players involved talked about how it all went down, so did the fan who threw his drink, hitting Artest, and therefore being the initiator of the brawl.
The crazy story is, that Artest went after the wrong guy in the stands. The kid he body slammed had nothing to do with the situation.
