anyone see this brawl in Detroit?

[bigbet1234]

will all bets be cancelled, since the game was not finished?

omg.......

I have never seen anything like this.....

fights with players, artest hits a guy in the stands, who threw a beer on him when he wasnt doing anything, then the fans throwing bottles on the court, fans on court..

game has been called with :45 sec left.........


probably wont get paid on my bet either....since it ended early....well that figures......

 

[bombay24]

G, my friend, i have to disagree with you on this one...Artest was doing nothing, he was laying down at the time in fact, when the fan approached the table and threw a glass and beer in his face.....he shouldnt have went into the stands, but this wasnt a normal instance....His prior behavior has been poor, and will accentuate this case, but this time, he was NOT THE INSTIGATOR, and the fan got what he deserved and more.......

Artest was doing nothing at the time....Wallace was the one who grabbed him by the throat, and came at him......

Bucsfan-I'm with you on this one. G-money, put yourself in Artest's shoes for a second. Think about all the BS he hears about the "taking time off for my album" and then being in an intense game all night in which he backed down from someone coming at him just moments before only to have a disgraceful fan throw a beer in his face. I think most men would have a hard time not going after that guy. On a lighter note, did anyone see O'Neal light that guy up that walked on the court? bet that felt nice!

 

[sportsbet]

As an impartial viewer I would have to say Artest's foul on Wallace with 45 seconds left in a game Indiana led by 15 points was the real beginning of this mess. It doesn't justify ANY of the actions following the foul but that foul meant more than just a reach in. Artest knew what he was doing when he fouled Wallace like that.

sb

 

[NickyDeuces]

Imo, 10 game suspension minimum. Families, including children are in the stands. You just can not go into the stands throwing punches.

 

[wilheim]

Not to make light of a very nasty incident but at least it will get the Terrell Owens MNF promo off the front page. I swear I have seen that thing 50 times this week on ESPN.





wil.

 

[bombay24]

As an impartial viewer I would have to say Artest's foul on Wallace with 45 seconds left in a game Indiana led by 15 points was the real beginning of this mess. It doesn't justify ANY of the actions following the foul but that foul meant more than just a reach in. Artest knew what he was doing when he fouled Wallace like that.

sb

I'm going to have to disagree with you. If you've watched artest play much you will see that he takes great pride in his defense and not allowing any easy pts. I do agree that it was a bad foul, but that's artest. And had he "known what he was doing when he fouled Wallace," I think he would have retaliated when wallace pushed him instead of walking away and laying on the bench even after wallace threw a towel in his face.

I think the real question is, where was security? I know all these tv reports say security wasnt that bad, but shouldnt there be security directly behind the bench? If that were the case, artest should have been held back from the stands.

 

[red007]

i'm glad a few piston fans got their asses beat.
they deserved it. stupid punks

 

[RobFunk]

ya man. that chubby kid with the ben wallace jersey tossed a drink at artest, freakn artest clocked that kid right in the face!

thats going to help Ron sell more albums I suppose


wil, I couldnt agree more. America needs to get a life on the TO issue at least now they will have something real to talk about. christ poor Tony Dungy is going to have to get a big tube of vagisil when he sees this. oh the humanity!

 

[cincy_]

Artest fouls Ben Wallace.

Wallace is puts an open hand on his chops and is about to bust his a$$ so Artest backs off

A punk fan who is probab;y 5'7" spills beer on him and Artest goes after him.

Hard fouls on players when they're attacking the rim, but a wimp when the guy is mano-a-mano with him.

Artest needs some BALLS. Reminds me of people who'll chew you out and cuss you out in a chatroom, but don't even have the guts to look you in the eye when you're in a bar.

 

[NickyDeuces]

Artest saw red. His bad. Have some control. Get "lucky" and break the beer throwers neck. Career done. One Pacer registered immediately on the bottom line. "Missed $100K paychecks" and was doing his best to retrieve teammates.

From CBS, "Quentin Richardson of the Phoenix Suns watched the brawl on television. "I have never seen a fight like that in a game since I was in high school," he said. "Man, there are going to be some lawsuits. You don't think some of those fans aren't going to want some NBA money?"

Larry Brown, "It's the ugliest thing I've seen as a coach or player."

 

[wilheim]

Indiana's Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson charged into the stands and fought with fans in the final minute of their game against the Detroit Pistons on Friday night, and the brawl forced an early and ugly end to the Pacers' 97-82 win.

The benches emptied when Detroit's Ben Wallace wheeled around and pushed Ron Artest in the face after being fouled hard by Artest from behind.

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) - Indiana's Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson charged into the stands and fought with fans in the final minute of their game against the Detroit Pistons on Friday night, and the brawl forced an early and ugly end to the Pacers' 97-82 win.
Officials stopped the game with 45.9 seconds remaining after pushing and shoving between the teams spilled into the stands and fans began throwing things at the players near the scorer's table. It's the ugliest thing I've seen as a coach or player," said Pistons coach Larry Brown, who was in the middle of the confrontation, trying to break it up.
After several minutes of players fighting with fans in the stands, the Pacers were pelted with beer, ice, and popcorn as they made their way to the locker room in one of the scariest brawls in an NBA game.
"I felt like I was fighting for my life out there," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "I'm sorry the game had to end this way."
The Palace announcer said the game was being stopped and pleaded with fans not to throw things.
It all started when Detroit's Ben Wallace went in for a layup and was fouled hard by Artest from behind.
Wallace wheeled around and pushed Artest in the face. The benches emptied and punches were thrown.
As the players continued shoving each other near center court and coaches tried to restore order, Artest sprawled out on his back on the scorer's table, looking relaxed.
Just when it appeared tempers had died down, Artest was struck by a full cup thrown from the stands. He jumped up, and charged into the stands, throwing punches as he climbed over seats.
Fans were punching back, and Jackson and another teammate joined Artest in the melee.
Detroit's Rasheed Wallace and Indiana's David Harrison were also in or near the stands.
As the crowd roared, drinks and debris showered the court and the Pacers players covered their heads as they hustled through the runway leading to the locker room.
A man in a Pistons jersey approached Artest on the court with fists raised, shouting at him. Artest punched him in the face, knocking the man to the floor before leaving the court. Artest was pulled away, and the fan charged back. O'Neal stepped in and punched the man.
"The NBA is withholding comment until it can review the incident," NBA spokesman Tim Frank said.
Pistons spokesman Tom Wilson said he did not believe anyone would be arrested.
Players from both teams left without comment.
Police prevented reporters from crossing the loading dock to get to Indiana's locker room or the area where the Pacers' bus was located.


Fox Sports

 

[quantumleap]

In Rome, a soccer referee was hit with a projectile and Rome played their next home match with an empty stadium. I think the same thing should be done in Detroit in their next home game.

I also hope there are plenty of lawsuits and jail time for the guilty parties. However, when a fan goes on the court in a situation like this they are fair game. A player has a right to defend himself.

 

[American]

O'Neal absolutely tagged that young, portly Hispanic gentleman that strayed onto the court after they got Artest out of the stands. I hope he broke the young man's jaw. I can't believe the lack of security in that place. People were just walking out onto the court and going after guys. And then they couldn't protect the players as they entered the locker room. A-holes were throwing everything they could down on them as they tried to leave the court.

 

[sportsbet]

I don't know Artest has a history in the NBA of starting **** for no reason. Now he hammers Wallace up 15 points with 45 seconds left in the game? This is the same Artest that a lot of Pacer fans were complaining about last week because he asked for time off.

Also, no one jumped onto the court to confront the Pacer players until after half the Pacer team jumped into the stands to attack the fans. Artest didn't even go after the guy that actually hit him with the plastic cup in the first place.

There is a lot of blame to go around here. The Pacers should've ran out of there and headed straight for the locker room and let the authorities deal with the one guy that threw the plastic cup at Artest. Instead of one bad guy easily identified by multiple witnesses it turned into this disaster and only AFTER the Pacer players went into the stands.

I guess being an Eagles fan I'm used to this sort of thing happening...except we throw empty liquor bottles and batteries (and snowballs in December at Santa Claus).

sb

 

[RobFunk]

I hate to say it. but sportsbet is right. that part of it got completely overlooked by ESPN's anaylists. that normally mild manered black guy the big guy who hosts sports reporters took shapps place forget his name. anyways, he was talking like a damn thug. he had a "hell ya I'd beat his ass if a drink was thrown at me and that kid on the floor had it coming" attitude...

I couldnt believe that they did not mention what you did SB and thats the fact that:

there was no reason to make that damn foul! up 15 and not only that the foul was late...also why the hell does carlisle even have artest or any other starter in the game at that point?!

 

[SpaciousK]

Steven Jackson= Scapegoat of the Year.

Had nothing to do with the initial altercation, did not have a beer thrown at him, yet ran into the stands and started beating fans up anyway. My prediction... gone for the year. And Artest deserves at least 10 games for going into the stands; more lenient due to his being provoked.

Stop making the players the victims, people.

That said, the Pistons fans aren't without blame, and if I were a Pacer, I would have probably been in the stands fighting right alongside my teammates. But the second Artest left the court, the die was cast.

 

[PimpinAintEasyBros]

Race has nothing to do with what happened last night or with TO's commercial. Get off the race BS already.

Those fans deserved to get their a** kicked. They are probably the same douche bags who talk on cell phones at games and wave to the cameras. God, I hate rabid sports fans. They probably never played a sport in their lives. Now they'll try and get paid from a lawsuit.

The players had every right to beat the hell out of anyone who is stupid enough to throw a beer at them or come on the court after them. But I still say basketball players don't know how to fight...lol

 

[harrington]

PUNK LEAGUE AND PUNK FANS. I woudn't watch an NBA game if it was in my backyard. Heck the whole league smokes weed(actually so am I right now but that's another story). I am in my 40's and have never seen anything like this.
I love college hoop but I can't stand the NBA.

 

[TheGeneral+]

The foul by artest was during play. Nothing new. How can this brawl issue be fixed? Really simple. Any player who acts in anger after a play such as what Ben did should be suspended for the YEAR. Anytime, with any player. Then, Artest & Jackson, etc.. should be suspended for the year for going into the stands. It is easy to fix, but for some reason the NBA will not fix it. Any act of violence should result in immediate suspension for the year for Any player. Seems we have been here before. :drink:

 

[WorldNumberOne]

any fan that threw anything at a player deserved to get his ass kicked. i dont care if its a paper cup, plastic bottle, a beer or whatever.

i have been to hundreds of sporting events and have sat courtside countless times.

the thought of throwing something in the direction of anybody has never crossed my mind.

charles barkley said it best when he said their should be a disclaimer on the back of the ticket that says "you might get your ass kicked if you act like an idiot"

i wish the fans that were pouring things and throwing things at the players as they left the court could have been taken into the locker room. i wonder how they would have acted then.

bottom line: stupid foul , overreaction by wallace. idiot fans get involved.