Fight at the Palace

[jonnycomelately]

The guy O'neal hit was not a case of self-defense, but if you're that much of a sped to get on the court during a NBA melee, you have a KO coming to ya. It was like O'Neal was already in the locker room, decided to just sprint and at the end of the run this dude was just standing there and Jermaine took his head off.

That was the funniest part of a horrible situation.

[Psicosis]

And anybody that thinks Artest is blameless in this is a complete fucking moron.  It shouldn't have escalated the way it did...and it was all because of him.  If he would have just shrugged it off (it was a plastic bottle for Christ's sake and it hit him in the chest)

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[jonnycomelately]

Pay me close to eight million dollars a year and I'm sure I'll just call you a fucking piece of trash and be on my way while I watch security drag your brain-dead ass away.

[Cactus Drags]

I will give you an example:

July 7, 1996; Daytona Beach, FL

Go look at all the shit Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash get pelted with.  The ring was full of garbage.  Gene Okerlund took a cup right in the face.  Look at how many times the over the years the NWO was pelted with garbage in the ring.  How many times did they attack the fans?  NEVER

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[Guest Future Shock]

The guy O'neal hit was not a case of self-defense, but if you're that much of a sped to get on the court during a NBA melee, you have a KO coming to ya.  It was like O'Neal was already in the locker room, decided to just sprint and at the end of the run this dude was just standing there and Jermaine took his head off.

That was the funniest part of a horrible situation.

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[VinceMcMahonForPresident]

I will give you an example:

July 7, 1996; Daytona Beach, FL

Go look at all the shit Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash get pelted with.  The ring was full of garbage.  Gene Okerlund took a cup right in the face.  Look at how many times the over the years the NWO was pelted with garbage in the ring.  How many times did they attack the fans?  NEVER

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What a stupidly irrelevant analogy.

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[apsham]

There's too much happening at one time to really take it all in, but wow. That's amazing.

[Guest Future Shock]

They don't make as much money?

They were trying to get heel heat?

They accomplished what they wanted to be done?

Wrestling is scripted?

Edited November 21, 2004 by Future Shock

[Guest Bluesman]

How? Thats Artest's reasoning for starting all that. He got hit with a cup. Those guys got hit with alot more and did nothing

Edited November 21, 2004 by Bluesman

[Nottavictim]

Defending himself?  Jermaine O'Neal got a running start and cold cocked a guy from his blind side.  That is not self defense

Ben Wallace deserves maybe two games at the most.  One for the two-handed shove and maybe one for the towell.  And it was not a punch, it was a two handed shove.  Even Carlisle said so.

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First of all, the guy deserved to be KO'ed by O'Neal for being dumb enough to go onto the court.

Second of all, I think Wallace deserves 10 games for over reacting to the foul and starting the fight, and then getting the entire building riled up over nothing which then lead to the idiot fans throwing shit.

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[Typical Phenom]

I say this everytime something happens (When Vernon Maxwell went into the stands, when Issell made his comments to a fan, etc)....just because you're buying a ticket, that does not give you a right to verbally assault and berade the players. You are there as a fan to represent your team, so do it in a positive manner. Years and years of having fans constantly belittle you, threaten you, talk about your family, yes it will build up in your head and sooner or later, a player will snap like Artest did. Is he wrong for doing it? Sure. But at the same time, he's human and he doesn't deserve to be disrespected at his job. Everything that happened after that (with fans going on the court), they got what they deserve. You step onto the court and approach a player, he has every right to leave you laying the second he feels threatened.

I thought Detroit security did an absolutely horrid job, especially since it was in Detroit, which is notoriously a tough crowd. The whole situation is no good for either team, or the players, or even the fans who will now face tougher security and less autograph opportunities. Terrible incident, but to put all the blame on Artest is ridiculous.

[sahyder1]

I'm all for Artest going into the stands. I mean name calling and words are one thing but when you throw something at someone, prepare to get your ass kicked. Technically it was "Assault" on Artest and even the cop on ESPN last night said that it could be called Self-Defense. The Detroit fans are despicable. Sure Artest should be suspended, but the fans are just utter trash.

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[Derek4jc]

I love how everyone is acting like it's nothing to get hit in the face with something... granted... it was a mistake to run into the stands swinging... but have you ever been around someone throwing stuff around and got nailed in the face with it and immediately wanted to crush the person who threw it... cus I have... add in the adrenaline rush of just being involved in a big brush up on the court... and having someone previously disrespect you by throwing a sweaty wristband in your face...

[JStarr]

Honestly, I'm likely one of the bigger Pacer fans on this board, and I'll say this: suspending Artest for the season likely wouldn't bother him or the Pacers one fucking bit. Ron can go promote his singing whores all he wants and Rick Carlisle can give more minutes to Austin Croshere, who he knows will go out and bust his ass all night every night.

But anyone who wants Stephen Jackson and Jermaine O'Neal to get the gate for a whole season is a Pistons fan who's saying "We need these guys to be gone because we're scared that the Pacers will hand us our asses in May." Both of those guys were trying to cover Artest's ass and make sure nothing happened to him in this "notoriously tough" Detroit crowd.

Whatever suspension O'Neal gets for jacking some fools that invaded his office should equal whatever Ben Wallace gets for half-jacking Ron Artest. Double whatever that suspension is and give that to Jackson. And if David Stern decides that Artest needs to be gone for the year, oh well. Ron's music is obviously more important, and this Pacer fan will say bye-bye, have fun getting stabbed at the Vibe Awards.

And while we're at it, BIG FUCKING UPS to the Pacers tonight, for nearly beating Orlando with FIVE FUCKING PLAYERS!!!!!!! (Yes, I know they had six, but that big ugly blank page John Edwards doesn't count.) Rick Carlisle=COTY.

[D-Extreme]

I can just say it was ugly. Hell it was inevitable that Artest would blow his fuse. The slightest thing would have ticked him off aside from his adrenaline rush on the court or the thing that happened before the beer thrown at him.

Thing is, I still think Artest's foul on Wallace was NOT NEEDED. The Pacers were on a lead with less than 40 + seconds to go. But then again, who am I to judge...........its just things like these made me realize why he was traded. But then again, anger makes you productive on court, or something like that.

[Psicosis]

He got hit with a full cup of beer from close range. How about I hit you with a full cup of beer from close range, you better not complain!

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[Troy Maskell]

Thing is, I still think Artest's foul on Wallace was NOT NEEDED. The Pacers were on a lead with less than 40 + seconds to go. But then again, who am I to judge...........its just things like these made me realize why he was traded. But then again, anger makes you productive on court, or something like that.

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[jonnycomelately]

But anyone who wants Stephen Jackson and Jermaine O'Neal to get the gate for a whole season is a Pistons fan who's saying "We need these guys to be gone because we're scared that the Pacers will hand us our asses in May."  Both of those guys were trying to cover Artest's ass and make sure nothing happened to him in this "notoriously tough" Detroit crowd.

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[Nottavictim]

I'm sorry but I watched the footage and it wasnt just Artest throwing punches in the stands.

[Hellfire]

Holy shit man, I just saw the footage, and that has got to be the craziest thing ive ever seen. I dont care for basketball, but i thought it was funny as hell to see the Pacers jump the barriers and maul the fans.

I laughed when the guy with glasses and a black shirt could be seen saying Holy Shit right before Ron Artest took his fucking head off, then after that Jackson started punching the dude in the face too.

Then Artest got dragged back onto the court, and started walking before being confrunted by the white dude with the Detroit jersey and taking him out too. Jermaine O'Neal's running punch that looked like it killed the guy was great too. So anyways, What I'm trying to say is that the Pacers rock. Pistons too.