Today in History: 'The Malice at the Palace' the Best Brawl in NBA History

By Djack

At the time when this originally happened in 2004 I was a young sports fan, I hadn't seen much of what the sports world had to offer yet, but I know what I witnessed that November night was not a usual spectacle. At the time I thought it was crazy, now looking back on it, I find it down right insane that it ever happened. What the fuck, a NBA player waltzes up into the stands, and gets into a full blown fist fight with fans. You can't make this shit up, you had fans fighting players just because the Pistons fans hated the Pacers, and they weren't going to stand for Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson throwing haymakers on their peers without getting in a few shots of their own. Rewatching that video all these years later has left me in awe, where is that passion today, obviously the brawl part could never happen in today's world with all the security, but where's that fire that sets players over the edge to the point where they feel the need to go into the stands, and kick some ass. Ron Artest was provoked by a fan throwing beer on him, but still he must've had some serious rage built up if he went running into the stands with the intent to kill like that. Ron Artest, who is now known as Metta World Peace, is still in the NBA today, I believe he's the only one left from that November night in 2004, best part is that he was the face of the whole debacle. I love Metta, he's helped change the culture in the Lakers lockerroom, and he's made a huge impact as a leader on the Lakers despite a very limited playing roll. At that time though Metta was a star in the NBA, he got suspended for a whole year because of that fight, and his tenure with the Pacers didn't last long after that. This is just one of those moments that'll never be forgotten as long as the NBA is around, partially in part to it being a travesty in the eyes on the league, but mostly because the savage Ron Artest was taking soul after soul of cowardly Piston fans as payback for years of shit talking him. Sports needs moments like this, yeah it's probably bad for the NBA because of lawsuits, but I know for a fact every fan would love to see something of this magnitude now, the rivalries just aren't what they used to be. That's why we have to continue to relive 'The Malice at the Palace' once a year.