More than 13 years have passed since the infamous game between the Detroit Pistons and the Indiana Pacers that was ultimately (and brilliantly) coined “Malice in the Palace.” After a hard foul, Ben Wallace shoved Ron Artest (now Metta World Peace) and kicked off the biggest scrap in NBA history.
There were numerous memorable moments during the melee. Artest and Stephen Jackson jumped over the scorer’s table and went after a bottle-throwing fan. Jermaine O’Neal ran halfway across to court to land a sliding Superman punch on an unsuspecting fellow. Ben Wallace’s brother, David, worked over Pacers’ guard Fred Jones. Also, as the Pacers’ returned to the locker rooms, Pistons fans turned the exit tunnels into a waterfall of beer, soda and flying nachos.
Many call the Malice in the Palace the NBA’s darkest hour. Artest was suspended for the remainder of the season. Jackson was banned for 30 games. O’Neal served a 15-game suspension and Wallace sat for five games.
Since that fateful night, the league has implemented many changes to prevent another catastrophic night from occurring. Any player who leaves the bench area during an altercation is automatically suspended. Arenas around the league have a much beefier security presence during NBA games. Hard fouls are heavily discouraged with the Flagrant 1 and Flagrant 2 rules. As a result, actual fights in the NBA since that fateful night have been few and far between.
For some reason, it seems like player dustups and heated arguments is now all the rage across the league. Everybody is mad – big mad!
It seems that players get angry at the officials after every call in today’s game. Even in the most obvious fouls, it seems as if the offending player is contractually obligated to look confused and bewildered as to why the referee would blow the whistle for something as petty as an elbow to the esophagus of his opponent.
Officials aren’t making the situation any better. There have been numerous instances of officials sending players to the showers early unnecessarily. LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis and Draymond Green have all been T’d up and tossed out. Referee Courtney Kirkland took it a step further when he literally went head-to-head with Golden State Warriors’ guard Shaun Livingston as Livingston complained about a no-call. Kirkland immediately ejected Livingston from the game. Livingston received a one-game suspension, while the league suspended Kirkland for one-week for his part in the altercation.
The NBA anger issues almost came to a head this week during the matchup between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Houston Rockets. The game was like an episode of Real Housewives of Timbuktu. There was tons of trash talk between players, a bumping incident between Clippers forward Blake Griffin and the Rockets’ coach Mike D’Antoni and even a ripped set of tights, courtesy of Trevor Ariza.
If that wasn’t enough, following the testy game, former Clippers point guard Chris Paul led a few of his Rockets teammates through a maze of secret walkways and hallways in an apparent MLK Day storm on the Clippers locker room (including a diversion door knock by Clint Capela). The incident belonged in an episode of Game of Thrones rather than the game of basketball. Though the television broadcast had long ended before the attempted locker room breach, luckily the epic play-by-play was handled by the Twitterverse.
The following night, there was an actual fight (at least by NBA standards) between the Orlando Magic’s Arron Afflao and Minnesota Timberwolves forward Nemanja Bjelica. After some chippy possessions, Affalo shoved and took a wild swing at Bjelica before Bjelica put him in a standing guillotine choke that would’ve made Dana White proud.
So why is everybody in the NBA so mad?
My instinct tells me that much of it has to do with the current era of super teams. First of all, we’re watching star players with super-sized egos join together, causing more stress and friction than in years past. Regardless of the how many super teams form, it’s clear that Warriors are head and shoulders above the competition and will waltz to another NBA title. That doesn’t quite explain why KD is squaring up to DeMarcus Cousins and everybody else, but that’s another column.
The other big issue is the relationship between the players and officials. There’s seemingly no respect between the two parties. NBA Commissioner David Silver must find a way for players and officials to work together without fussing and fighting about every call.
I’m not sure what the solution is, but Silver needs to find it quickly. If Silver can’t get his players, coaches and officials to chill, festering tensions could make things ripe for Malice in the Palace 2.0. Considering the rising popularity and excitement of the NBA, that’s something nobody needs.
Follow Ishmael and In the Clutch at @IshmaelSistrunk
