The public was given perhaps the most rewatchable event in sports history: The Malice at the Palace. It is still completely unfathomable that this took place, even if there had been some warning signs in the decade leading up to it with some ugly fights that spilled into the stands. Obviously I can't even imagine what it would be like if this took place today in the age of Twitter; I think the following day would have to be some form of national holiday so everyone can focus on all the takes.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdyqIh4nJ3Y
Some additional thoughts after rewatching the event today:
- Stephen Jackson deserves a lot of credit for ending up looking crazier than the guy who went into the stands to fight a fan. What is even nuttier is that later in his career he would become a highly-respected league veteran and mentor for younger players.
- Jermaine O'Neal slipping and still managing to totally K.O. a heavyset fan who runs onto the floor will never not be funny.
- Mike Breen is unintentionally hilarious calling this for ESPN, particularly when he said after the melee winded down "Artest...he has a look in his eye that is just scary."
- A lot of players took a ton of unnecessary heat after this event, when most of them went into the stands to break-up the fight and stop Artest, but ended up getting punched by fans.
- I remember Bill Simmons once saying what it must of been like to be the fan that Artest punches first. Remember, Artest ended up going after the wrong guy and not the fan who threw the cup. So this fan was just sitting near courtside, watching the game for two hours and all of a sudden Ron Artest in your lap, punching you. That would be like watching Jaws in a theater and at the end of the movie, Jaws pops out of the screen and bites you.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdyqIh4nJ3Y
Some additional thoughts after rewatching the event today:
- Stephen Jackson deserves a lot of credit for ending up looking crazier than the guy who went into the stands to fight a fan. What is even nuttier is that later in his career he would become a highly-respected league veteran and mentor for younger players.
- Jermaine O'Neal slipping and still managing to totally K.O. a heavyset fan who runs onto the floor will never not be funny.
- Mike Breen is unintentionally hilarious calling this for ESPN, particularly when he said after the melee winded down "Artest...he has a look in his eye that is just scary."
- A lot of players took a ton of unnecessary heat after this event, when most of them went into the stands to break-up the fight and stop Artest, but ended up getting punched by fans.
- I remember Bill Simmons once saying what it must of been like to be the fan that Artest punches first. Remember, Artest ended up going after the wrong guy and not the fan who threw the cup. So this fan was just sitting near courtside, watching the game for two hours and all of a sudden Ron Artest in your lap, punching you. That would be like watching Jaws in a theater and at the end of the movie, Jaws pops out of the screen and bites you.
