[urlhttp://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7612311/an-oral-history-malice-palace[/url]

Save for Reggie Miller, Rip Hamilton, and a few others, nearly everyone who was involved offers their take on it. Great read.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7612311/an-oral-history-malice-palace

Tl;dr

Actually got about halfway through, may finish later.

Also, Ron "World Peace" Artest is a thug and a piece of chit.

I didn't realize how much the fans were egging it on.

I just like the idea of Rasheed Wallace's role as the voice of reason.

Interesting read, and it is hard to find video of the full event on youtube (thanks a lot, bin Laden).

Also, I found it interesting on some of the Pacers had such resentment towards Artest. They had such a promising season to look forward to, they stood up for the guy, then he asks for the trade.

Miller mentioned the other night that he felt like that team could have won a championship. Oh, Reggie.

I hope they make the malice into a 30/30 type documentary at some point.

That one quote by Jim Gray just totally re-inforces why I hate him the worst of any "professional" sports reporter on the planet. The article is doing such a good job of showing that players on both teams, plus the refs were at fault, and here comes Jim Grey, the authority on everything who pronounces it was:

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The Pistons were the problem. It was the Pistons who initiated this, the Pistons fans and Wallace were the guys who were the aggressors here.

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He is so full of s#$& it comes spewing out of his mouth at every opportunity.

Great read though.

Most of the blame goes to Ron Artest and the beer thrower, IMO.

And between those two, I'd say 65% Ron Artest and 35% the beer thrower.

And Artest does at least have somewhat of a defense because you know, he was/is bats%t crazy.

I think this article reinforces the unwritten rule of you pay to watch not get personally involved. Anyone who blames the players for defending themselves, no matter how flimsy (over a thrown beer) is just looking to call certain people thugs. The crowd became thugs.

Metta World Peace may be insane and he may have baited the crowd by laying on the scoters table, but you didn't pay to throw things or throw punches. You didn't pay to run on the court.

Also why I have a hatred for rushing the court/field......

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And between those two, I'd say 65% Ron Artest and 35% the beer thrower.

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I would go 30% Artest. 70% beer thrower.

I'd say 99% Artest. 1% beverage thrower. Artest is a million dollar professional athlete. It's not like his life was in danger. He should have swallowed his pride and showed restraint. It's not his job to enforce. That's what security is for.

What I love is the fact that a cup of beer is what sent Artest over the edge and not that Wallace had just jacked him up pretty good only a few moments before.
He goes after some fan that throws a cup at him and not the guy who just about knocked him to the floor.
Artest is a poosay, always has and always will be.

As for Jackson, he is a clown. He was a clown when he was here in SA as well, only difference was his teammates weren't. The Spurs kept him in check.

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What I love is the fact that a cup of beer is what sent Artest over the edge and not that Wallace had just jacked him up pretty good only a few moments before.
He goes after some fan that throws a cup at him and not the guy who just about knocked him to the floor.
Artest is a poosay, always has and always will be.

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Exactly, he gets into an altercation with Wallace, decides to back away from it, then somebody else throws a beer.....

You're about to fight a guy at the chicken, think better of it, and then some random guy just throws a beer at your head and you're not going to say/do anything? Really?

Arrest was wrong to go into the crowd, but to sit here and call a man a ***** because all of a sudden it went from 12 guys vs. 12 guys to being attacked by the crowd?

LOL

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The only time I felt I was about to get hurt was when a policeman popped his pepper spray container and started shaking it up. Reggie Miller was pleading with him, "Please don't. My suit costs x-hundred dollars."

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What I love is the fact that a cup of beer is what sent Artest over the edge and not that Wallace had just jacked him up pretty good only a few moments before.

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Have you ever played basketball (or any sport) before? That **** happens. Arguments and fights happen all the time on the court/field. It's not unusual. Ron was being a dick with the hard foul, definitely. But what's he going to do? Even if it had been Tayshaun Prince, I doubt he would have fought him. They were up big with less than a minute ago. It was cheap hard foul. That's it.

But the beer thing is something completely unexpected.

Imagine playing a pick-up game at the rec and you get into a shoving match or argument over a foul. Then all of sudden a water bottle hits you in the face from the sideline. Who more are you likely to be angry at?

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Have you ever played basketball (or any sport) before? That **** happens. Arguments and fights happen all the time on the court/field.

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Yes I have...My point is if you are going to dish out a hard foul like that(given the tone of that game) be ready to back it up..he gets shoved by Wallace and then retreats as quickly as possible. If you watch the video, Wallace never stops coming at him, and Artests hides behind his team.

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being attacked by the crowd?

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He lays all calm on the scorers table..and a half empty cup lands on his stomach. Now all of the sudden he's REALLY PISSED about that cup and HE takes off into the crowd to find some random fan who is probably 5'4" 170 and beat his ass!

He backed away from Wallace because he was scared--poosay

He went into the crowd to prove he was man-- double poosay

my opinion.

Someone throws something at you, it's considered assault. Attacked. Doesn't matter if it's water, beer or urine. But I see your point. Opinion respected, somewhat agreeable.

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and beat his ass!

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wrong. did you read the article and have you ever seen the footage?

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wrong. did you read the article and have you ever seen the footage?

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Then what do you imagine his intentions were by going up in the stands? Was he going to the concession stand to get some popcorn and buy that guy another beer?

Seen the footage plenty of times, did not read all the article.

it may have been his intention. fine.

he did not, in point of fact, beat his ass. he barely did anything to that guy.

Agreed.

now, when he got back down on the floor, and the two guys came after the Pacers, that's a different story:




and also, as the article points out, this guy better be thankful there was a wet spot:

it was on a Friday night. I had a bit of an injury keeping me in that night so I saw it all live.

Everything Artest did was despicable, there is no denying that. However, I've always claimed that Ben Wallace caused the brawl. If Ben Wallace would have STFU, the crowd would not have gotten involved like they did. The drunk idiots in the crowd were following the lead of that ***** Ben Wallace.

Everything after that was pure mayhem and thuggery, but it was started by Wallace IMO no doubt. Everything could have been avoided had the Pistons not let him prance around on the court talking ****, then throwing the headband. Even though Jim Gray apparently shares my opinion, I hate him too.

I'll read the article later when I have some free time.

[This message has been edited by Bunk Moreland (edited 3/1/2012 6:21p).]

Ben Wallace isn't the one who charged into the stands. Ben Wallace's actions were typical of an NBA fight, Artest's were not.

I really do feel like there was blame on both sides aplenty. But I do have to agree with sharkleno's latest comment. There is a code among the players - as they meticulously outlined in the article - that as long as it stays on the court a lot of the true ugliness can be handled and sorted out by coaches, players on the bench, etc. But once Artest leapt into the stands all bets were off.

I really do think the whole conflagration became outrageously out of hand because you had drunk fans who were horribly antagonized by a player with severe mental issues. I do place most of the blame on Artest, but I think in this case Artest can truly claim a defense plea of insanity. It was a perfect storm.

That was a great read

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-169695640295285298

Full video.

Bunk Moreland has it right. But I would mention the other Pistons as well.

They were responsible for 90% of the instigation. They were baiting all the Pacers. Hard fouls, trash talking, etc. They were are working their crowd into a mob.

I'm glad the guy threw the cup of beer. I wish it was a rock and wish he had better aim.

It was a scary and disgraceful night, but it's changed the NBA culture for the better. Or at least changed the outward appearance during games.

My favorite line from the article

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The day I threw the cup I forgot about the laws of physics.

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I doubt that he knows that much about the laws of Physics to begin with.

for some reason, this is one of those things that i always remember where i was when i saw it happening live.....in the poker room at the mirage.

are you kidding me? who cares what $$ you make? at the end of the day everyone in there is human. the fans have 50% of the blame for throwing beer, water, bottles at all the pacers. the two idiot fatasses who tried to fight artest and jackson on the court are to blame. the guy who threw the beer might be a billionaire for all you know, but he incited it.

Its not right for artest to do what he did, he gets 50% of the blame for going into the stands, but the fans are all ADULTS. THey have to be held responsible. Just because you pay for a ticket does not give you a right to be physically abusive.