Malice at the Palace – The Most Infamous Brawl in NBA History
During the whole NBA history, there were many legendary brawls, but the one that stood out from all of them was the infamous Malice at the Palace. On November 19th, 2004, at the Palace of Auburn Hills in the city of Detroit, mayhem happened in a regular season game between the Detroit Pistons and the Indiana Pacers.
I’ll unravel the chaos that happened almost two decades ago – Malice at the Palace. Keep reading, and you’ll find out how and why the fight occurred, the consequences, and a new perspective on the fight in a new Netflix doc series, “Untold: Malice at the Palace.”
The Brawl Itself
Even though many basketball fans like yourself could’ve expected a tough and physical game between the Indian Pacers and the Detroit Pistons, given the fact that they’ve faced each other in the previous season in the Eastern Conference finals, no one thought that a fight of this scale, Malice at the Palace could’ve happened.
The game was coming to an end, with almost 46 seconds left on the clock and Indiana leading 97-82, when Artest made a foul on Ben Wallace, the Pistons player. Immediately after the foul, Wallace pushed Artest with tremendous force, resulting in players and coaches from the Pistons and Pacers stepping on the court to engage in conflict.
Ron Artest didn’t want to fight. On the contrary, he went to the scorer’s board and sat on it to keep his cool. Unfortunately, the spark igniting the chaos happened immediately after that. A fan, John Green, hit Artest with a cup of beer, who then rushed to the stands. Another Pacers player, Stephen Jackson, went into the crowd.
The Malice at the Palace started to unfold. Cups were flying, hands were thrown, and everything seemed like a big street fight. Teammates Artest and Jermaine O’Neal started throwing fists at a couple of fans who were on the basketball court. The remainder of the game wasn’t played, and the consequences of this gruesome event were significant.
Here is the Malice at the Palace video:
The Aftermath of the Malice at the Palace
The Malice at the Palace suspensions were issued by the NBA Commissioner at the time, Mr. Stern. The players who had the most extensive suspensions following the aftermath of Malice at the Palace were:
- Artest – 73 games
- Stephen Jackson – 30
- Jermaine O’Neal – 25
- Ben Wallace – 6
- Anthony Johnson – 5
Other players who stepped on the court after leaving their bench were suspended for one game. The estimated salary loss for both teams combined was $11.5m.
Before Malice at the Palace, the Pacers were considered an Eastern Conference contender. However, they lost all that potential because of the players who got suspended and missed many games. Nevertheless, they eventually made the playoffs by finishing sixth in the Eastern Conference.
They faced Detroit Pistons again, only this time in the playoffs, and got beaten in the second round.
Undoubtedly, the Malace at the Palace was one of the most disgraceful moments in the NBA, being remembered as a brutal brawl between the fans and the players.
Untold: Malice at the Palace
Back in 2021, a Netflix documentary, Untold: Malice at the Palace, came out that gave a whole new perspective on the infamous brawl between the players of both Indiana and the Pistons players, as well as the fans. The Netflix doc crew interviewed many players from both teams, mainly those in the spotlight of the Malice at the Palace: Wallace, O’Neal, Jackson, and Artest.
Pacers’ Jermaine O’Neal said in the documentary that the brawl affected people’s perceptions of him as a player, although he was a significant contributor to the team.
I’ve mentioned that Artest initially didn’t want to be a part of the mess. The news narrative did not go in Artest’s favor, considering he wanted a rap album promotion by taking some time off from playing basketball. Also, everyone saw Ron as someone who would instigate an on-court fight, as he was hot-headed. In the Untold: Malice at the Palace, he says that the reason why he went to sit on the scorers’ board was because of the recommendation of his therapist, which was to just top and calm himself by counting to five, which would prevent Artest for doing something regrettable.
Untold: Malice at the Palace is a Netflix documentary that aims not to change the story behind one of the most brutal fights in basketball history but to give a fresh view of the brawl by showing the broader context.