November 19 was the 20-year anniversary of the event known as the “Malice at the Palace.”
You likely remember this vividly, but just in case, here’s a quick refresher:
Towards the end of an early-season game between the Pistons and Pacers at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Detroit (well, technically Auburn Hills), Ben Wallace of the Pistons drove towards the basket, where he was fouled by Indiana’s Ron Artest.
Now, at this point of the game, there were 45.9 seconds left, and Detroit was losing 97-82. They weren’t going to win, and they were visibly frustrated.
Wallace responded to Artest’s foul by shoving him in the chest, and a massive scuffle began. While things were cooling down, Ron Artest went to lie on the scorer’s table.
At that point, someone from the stands through a full cup of…water? Beer? Some other liquid? Directly at Artest.
Of course, Artest didn’t take kindly to that and RAN INTO THE STANDS to take on the offender. Pandemonium ensued. Players were throwing punches, fans were on the court, and nobody knew what was going on.
The Malice at the Palace Fight
Artest ended up getting suspended 73 games — the longest suspension in NBA history. A ton of other players missed games, too.
This was unprecedented. There were PLAYERS FIGHTING FANS IN THE CROWD AND ON THE COURT! The event forever changed how player safety, arena security, and fan interactions were viewed and handled.
What makes this moment especially memorable to me is that I remember the night it happened vividly.
My high school basketball team was doing a “preview night” for fans — come see how good we look when we only play against each other! — and this game was on the TV in the cafeteria after the scrimmage, where we were unwinding with some sub sandwiches and juice boxes.
As I mentioned above, the game was a blowout, so I decided to leave early.
What a mistake.
Before I went to bed, I thought, “huh, I wonder what the score of that game was,” and turned on the TV (this was before the Internet had all the answers to everything).
And how lucky — the final score of the game was on the TV. Then it cut away from the box score, and everyone was talking about how players were FIGHTING WITH FANS.
It was all anyone could talk about at school the next day. Even my non-basketball-loving friends were chatting about it. It was a dark day for basketball, but my goodness, was it a spectacle.
Plus, “Malice at the Palace” has got a fun rhyming name, and that’s all you can ask for.
How about you? Do you remember what you were up to during the Malice at the Palace? Were you watching this game, or did you just learn about it elsewhere?