Wallace started the whole thing.

Thanks dacman, I thought that was strange, but Grey & Walton actually said the word "bottle" at least twice. The first time, I figured it was just a misstatement but after hearing it twice, I thought maybe they really meant it.

Here is my question..

Does Frank .. bah forgot his last name now. The Rangers pitcher who threw the chair. Does that get any consideration in dishing out suspensions? I think some, though from what I recall he was totally at fault.

George isn't fat, he's stocky. He can like lift 100 pounds right over his head.

Yeah. I was watching this with my dad and I told him that Wallace throwing whatever it was he threw would get him suspended. What resulted though you can't possible forsee.

apparently artest didn't have a good hue.

They should do what FIFA do when soccer hooligans ruin a game..

make the team play their next 2-3 home games in front of an empty arena. No fans allowed. Hit em in the pocketbook.

Oh, Gary, I see you're reading this thread.. This ISN'T in TPB2005 is it? :D

Kind of like punching a tree when the Red Sox lose?

Got it on Tivo...interesting seeing all the intracacies of the fight happening in slow motion after the fact, the little things before hand that led to the great aggression. The Pacers were showboating on dunks right before that, and I bet Wallace was pissed off about that, and because normally Artest is just a clueless punk anyways.

It looked like a plastic cup...not a bottle at all.

Edit - I'm slow

Apparently its now being said that Artest hit the wrong guy. They're still checking it out but Artest apparently attacked the wrong guy.

And that makes him responsible for all of the moronic DECISIONS that were made after that?

Um, no.

yup.

Never said I was perfect.

Schmidity, don't go into the stands after Fozz.

Bernie Smileovich swears Artest hit the wrong fan. So the guy who came to help him who got clobbed by Jackson was helping an innocent fan.

If this is the case and can be proven, Artest is in SERIOUS trouble.

What a moronic post.

Yeah, let's ban all good fans and innocent people becauase of a few dumbasses.

GET THAT SUCKER ON A WEBSITE OR A BITTORRENT NOW , YOU!

Piece of NBA history.

This is going to be studied like the Zapruder film

The NBA gave guys like 3 games for domestic violence incidents(Glen Robinson and Jason Richardson) last season. If they give a bunch of time for this situation, it would be like saying "its not that big of a deal if you push your girlfriend around, but if you chase after some drunken fan, thats fucking horrible!"

Works elsewhere in the world, Schmidty.

if the Pistons can't control their idiot fans, (and I'm not saying all/a majority/even many of the Pistons fans are idiots), then don't let em have em for a couple games

Then don't insult all Detroit fans either. Hypocrite.

Again, its being reported Artest hit the wrong fan. He should be gone for a long time if this is true.

No matter what player did what tonight, hell, no matter what fan did what, I believe the largest burden belongs on the NBA (it's their incident, they take the beating tonight, but I don't believe any league is particularly innocent).

Move the fans away from the fucking court, stop turning arenas into bars, put adequate & ample security in every arena ... or expect to see this sort of thing become commonplace.

Reading skills are fundamental, sir.

You should try it sometime.

Here's the ESPN/AP description of the event

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) -- Indiana's Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson charged into the stands and fought with fans in the final minute of their game against the Detroit Pistons on Friday night, forcing an early and ugly end to the Pacers' 97-82 win.

The game was stopped with 45.9 seconds remaining when a pushing and shoving between the teams spilled into the stands after fans began throwing things at the players near the scorer's table.

"It's the ugliest thing I've seen as a coach or player," Pistons coach Larry Brown said.

After several minutes of players fighting with fans in the stands, the Pacers were pelted with beer, ice, and popcorn as they made their way to the locker room in one of the scariest brawls in an NBA game.

The Palace announcer said the game was being stopped and pleaded with fans not to throw things.

It all started when Detroit's Ben Wallace went in for a layup and was fouled hard by Artest.

Wallace wheeled around and pushed Artest in the face. The benches emptied and punches were thrown.

As the players continued shoving each other near center court and coaches tried to restore order, Artest lay on his back on the scorer's table.

Just when it appeared tempers had died down, Artest was struck by a cup thrown from the stands. He jumped up, and charged into the stands, throwing punches as he climbed over seats.

Fans were punching back, and Jackson and another teammate joined Artest in the melee. A Pistons player came running into the crowd.

Detroit's Rasheed Wallace and Indiana's David Harrison were also in or near the stands.

As the crowd roared, drinks and debris showered the court and the Pacers players covered their heads as they hustled through the runway leading to the locker room.

Not after the Browns - Jaguars game a few years ago. Actually I thought they took the plastic bottles away after that game

That was a cogent point. Thanks for being the pot.

I am sorry but S.Jackson and O'Neal need to be gon for the season or atleast 20+ games they werent attacked by any fans... that shit was uncalled for...

Funny that last night Fox Sports Detroit replayed Detroit/Colorado, Fight Night 96, and then tomorrow is Michigan/Ohio State.

Well, looking at the replay again, Artest may have gotten the wrong fan -- but the fan he DID get was taunting him like a fucking idiot. You've got an NBA player just hit square-on with a beer, why do you make yourself LOOK guilty by pointing and taunting the enraged dude coming up into the stands. He may have been innocent, and if so Artest's punishment should be stiffer, but what an idiot.

This better end up being more about the fans than the players.

heck, if you weren't so fired up to defend the pretty much indefensible action of a minority of Detroit's fans, this thing wouldn't have gotten kicked off in the first place.

So, who won?

Yeah but if you're a player, you cannot go into the stands. Only bad things can happen. Any time a players ever gone into the crowd in any sports, it's NEVER been good. I don't condone what happened, but everyone handled the situation terribly.

Isnt there some provision that Athletes are able to wreck ass to defend themselves. If they feel threatened, anything goes.

Oofda.

The rematch is Christmas Day on ESPN at 12:30.

They did the impossible. Reduced Shaq v Kobe to undercard status.

So shoving someone just because you got fouled is acceptable now?

ben was stupid for doing it. but it happens. and i said, ben will get suspended for 2 games and fine most likely for a mix of the things he did. but it happens all the time, and thats the problem.

Up until now I didn't even figure on it happening in the NBA

All I can say is what a bunch of idiots. Frankly I blame Artest the most for the brawl. What he did was uncalled for and totally a cheap shot and extremely Artest-like. Ben shouldn't have done what he did but I understand it - it was not a hard foul, it was a blatant cheap shot which could have very easily injured Wallace and injured him severly. As for the fans who threw stuff - just stupid. Buying a ticket gives you the right to yell and scream and say what you want - it does not give you the right to throw stuff at players, coaches, officials or anyone else.

On the other hand there is no reason for Artest, Jackson or anyone else to be up in the stands or reason for fans to be on the floor. So what - a guy threw a beer at Artest. That guy should be arrested and escorted out - that is not a license to go up into the crowd and start swinging - especially since people who had nothing to do with it got put in harms way. All in all, a disgusting and disgraceful situation. I hope Stern drops the hammer on Artest and Jackson - I'd say 20 games or less is a slap on the wrist for them. Wallace should get the normal fine/suspension for doing what he did but IMO what Artest and Jackson did was not only by far worse but by far more dangerous endangering people courtside who were just watching a game and not throwing things or planning on participating in a fight.

Nobody cares about Kobe anymore. He will quickly be supplanted by Lebron James as the premeire guard/small forward in the league.

My wife is forcing me to go play EQ2 to cool off. I just hate people that fuck with my guys and my state. If someone messes with my fellow Piston fans because of a few morons out of thousands, I'm gonna get pissed. I've always got my state's back.

Blah. I'm out of here.

Fozz is just lucky his BoSox won the series or else .. he'd be hearing it from me. :)

ESPN takes the side of Artest, citing race. What a bunch of bull shit.

And a lot of people ain't real impressed with somebody who's "got their back" even when their actions are FUBAR.

Maybe Pistons games are just a substitute for Devil's Night.

Just rewatched the video. Putting up on FTP.

Ha are you serious? That's a joke. Artest is an asshole, no matter how you feel about tonight. To take his side is a joke, pure and simple.

They are always all over TO, but TO cannot hold a candle to Artest.

Fans who come onto the court, deserve to get their ass kicked. What was Jackson supposed to do, let Artest get his ass kicked in the stands? He has to get his boy's back. Talk about shitty security, and some despicable fans.

I'm not seeing a few morons. I'm seeing more like 40 and 50 morons.

Stephen A. Smith has the best idea I've heard yet ... the NBA should hand out punishment based on what happened on the court and not one thing about the rest.

Detroit got punked on the court & Ben Wallace & their fans couldn't deal with it.

Jackson's straight punch appears to definitely have some merit to it. I'm not sure what the hell everyone else was seeing.

What I'm not enjoying is the ESPN commentators talking about how the fans should be thrown in jail and how the players have so much pent up rage and aggression hearing taunts from the fans....what a bunch of crap. Yeah, the guy who works on the assembly line 50 hours a week doing the same thing over and over...no way he has any pent up aggression. Only these NBA players who make millions playing a game are the ones frustrated because some jackass in the fifth row says his momma is fat. :rolleyes:

Nice job ESPN - way to lay ZERO blame on the players involved. The fans who participated in throwing stuff or worse going onto the floor deserve to be held responsible for their actions but so do the players - even if they do have all this built up aggression from their stressful lives and jobs :rolleyes: