O'Neal actually hits his slightly pudgier buddy who jumped on Ron Ron after he tatooed his friend in the Tiger hat... that guy got smoked.

Video is nice... but I wanna hear what these fools were saying. One thing's for sure... Steven Jackson cannot throw a punch.

I just saw Tinsley grab a dust pan and start waving it at someone... awesome.

i was in that same bar, and look i love the nba; and i thought this was one of the coolest things i have ever seen....proof positive that shit is coming apart

What are you talking about? Yankees never went into the stands and fought a fan to my recollection.

If you're talking about the fight in 2003 in boston between a couple of yankees and one of the Redsox groundskeepers, I'd say there's a big difference. Not that the players weren't wrong not to shrug it off and just try to get the guy fired rather than fight him but its still a far cry from jumping up into the stands and going after fans.

I couldn't believe that none of the ESPN commentators agreed with Joe Dumars that getting hit by a cup didn't give Artest the right to jump into the stands and start swinging at fans. I mean it was a cup for christ's sake that started it, not a chair, a rock or something that really posed any chance of hurting Artest.

I was with Derris and Bloor watching this one,and I too am I HUGE fan of mayhem. Detroit WHAT!?!?

The thing here is fans and players are outta control. Fans resent these moron players and their huge salaries...Players take shit from the fans, and know that they hate them. Its a vicious cycle and further proof that this country is headed in a weird and fucked up direction. Priorities are waaaay outta whack.

Although I believe players shouldn't jump into the stands for any reason, I gotta admit I fuckin' love it when some fat, mouthy, drunken, cheap-seater decides he's man enough to take on a professional athlete. No one deserves a good pummeling as much as that guy.

Those fans were damn lucky basketball players don't know how to fight. Maybe the NBA should hire a few out-of-work hockey enforcers to round out their rosters.

Classic. Though baseball fights are the tamest, but they aren't fighters they are lovers.

If you go tothis page hereyou can see an interview with Ron Artest. It's not about the fight. It's actually from a couple weeks ago i think but the point is you can tell just how crazy this guy is. he's just rambling on about nothing. About the projects and nba championships and a bunch of other stuff. Somebody said mentally unbalanced... uh... yeah.

Oh and I don't think he's got an album coming out. He produced an album for a girl group called Allure. Check it....

any clip of how this all started? it's unclear from the wmv file linked from this thread

http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/motion/showcase/index?videos=1927624

espn has a couple of clips on that page

http://msn.foxsports.com/story/3179442

suspended indefinitely?

that's 3 all-stars.

http://jrofosho.com/exclusives/video/nbafight.html

That is footage from SportsCenter, very comprehensive, even in slo-mo.

Since this seems to be a direct response to me I will elaborate. From Damon

“Once fans cross the line like that, it's on. Don't give me that "Oh they make millions" bullshit. If someone throws something at you it's you right to defend yourself. When people punch you in the back of the head you have the right to turn around & pop that pussy. If a chair is thrown at you... you get the idea.”

This didn’t happen at the corner bar. These players are representing the NBA. If I am behind a counter and a customer comes in to the office pissed off and throws water on me than I don’t go off and get mental on him. I handle the situation in a professional manner without losing my cool. Ron laid down on a table in public view. Can you tell me any profession where that is acceptable? Again you are representing the NBA but these players can care less. That is no excuse for fans to throw ice at him. Ron most likely went after the wrong guy and beat up someone who might have had a loud mouth but was the wrong guy. Punches at the back of the neck need to be addressed but if they never went into the stands in the first place then… Again you are at work and representing the NBA, walk away. If a chair is thrown at you it becomes something a bit different but would it of happen without what transpired before?

“Thing I don't understand is the love/hate relationship America has with the NBA. They watch it in droves but they act like they hate it. I mean root against the Olympic team & why? It's almost like how talk radio has listeners who listen cause they hate the host. I mean I don't find basketball that entertaining esp the NBA, playoffs are too predicable. I'm someone who has to get into something hardcore or almost totally ignore it, scratching the surface is not an option. But a lot of people I know who are into the NBA almost tolerate it more than enjoy it. I don't know maybe I'm rambling now"

This seems to be a more general quote. For me personally I really didn’t care much for the NBA before. Ironically, I was about to post a thread where I bitched about it. Slinging most of my venom at Stephan A. Smith. Bottom line with this sport is the players as I think they are the worst of all professional sports. I have lived in L.A. for only one season of Shaq/Kobe but it became a total joke.

ESPN basketball crew is the worst. I watch for three hours straight as this shit was unfolding and they were defending the players and never looked at it from the other point of view. The football or baseball crew would of never done what they did tonight. They also plugged the next game between these two teams at every opportunity.

I’m so fed up with America.

I heard that Ron Artest actually had a headset on when he laid down for a minute, or was talking to the radio or something.

This is pretty fucking stupid on all counts. Random thoughts:

1. Notice how these badasses never really want to fight? They just want to posture and shove. Artest took a cheap shot, but Wallace shouldn't have retaliated. And if he really did want to retaliate, why didn't he throw a punch rather than a half-assed shove and then the "Hold me back" pose. I hate that shit. If you wanna fight, fight. If not, play the fucking game. Stop posturing.

This is a fight. One-sided, but at least there's action.:


2. Jackson is an idiot. Sit the fuck down. You are not a principal. If your boy and their boy want to bump chests and talk shit, let them do it. Get the fuck out of the way.

3. Artest is an idiot. Asshole fans or not, he is responsible for maintaining control over himself. Going into the stands doesn't fix a goddamn thing. And before he starts pissing and moaning about how the fans treat him, how about this: If I give a trucker the finger, he can't just run me off the road because I'm an asshole. If I spit on a cop, he can't shoot me in response to my disrespect. I'll revise my thoughts on the kid in the jersey. Artest shouldn't have hit him, but he really asked for it. Not as good as when the Colts' Mike Curtis destroyed the fan on the field years ago, however. Artest should miss the rest of the season.

4. O'Neal is an idiot. Get in the locker room. Hitting a fan after he's already been knocked down while there are two staffers directly behind him is inexcusable. O'Neal should miss the rest of the season.

5. Anyone who came back out of the locker room should be severely punished. You ain't helping shit, get out of the fray.

This doesn't excuse the fans, but the reaction of the players doesn't equal the action of the fans. No way. I am vehemently opposed to vigilante justice. Let the people do their jobs. If Artest had kept his goddamn head and walked to the locker room when hit the first time, this would be a non-issue. Hell, I bet the highlight wouldn't even had made SC in that case.

This was what I was trying to say!

Actually a cop (might not be able to shoot you) but can cuff you. It's um, shit I can't remember the offense.

Holy shit! Upon further review--I read a rumor but cannot attest to the validity--but the fat guys in jerseys also have towels in their hands. They might be fucking ballboys, who are supposed to be on the court.

Now, I can't really tell if he was going to attack or not, but watch the one who didn't get hit. It seems to me that he's trying to warn Artest. Maybe I'm just looking for guilt, and yes, they shouldn't have been close to the action. Given the situation however, it's not a stretch to me that they may have been out of position and inadvertently in harms way.

I need some slow-mo dammit. It also seems that he was just going to that end of the floor and stumbled across Artest. Note the way he's sort of hopping, then immediately freezes and turns in Artest's direction.

True, but that's also an equitable reaction to the initial action, whereas shooting me would not.

I thought that was a joke & a disgrace , too. But c'mon...in general the NBA is 100% more thugish than MLB.

what do you mean by "thugish"?

i think that all professional athletes are by and large spoiled dicks and get to the point where they somehow lack perspective on what's really going on. however, for some reason, when artest (whom we all pretty much agree is certifiably NUTS) pulls some insane shit then the entire league is thugs and punks, but when that rangers pitcher francisco something throws a chair at a fan in the stands and hits a woman then he's just an individual acting out and the league as a whole is just squeaky-clean druggies and it's all good.

i think that guy got what he deserved. i mean there's no reason for players to go into the stands and similarly, fans shouldn't go on the court.

ben probably overreacted a tad bit to that foul by artest but i guess he'd be getting beat up all game so it's pretty understandable.

Watch again. He and his pal in Pistons jerseys are both holding towels. I really think they are ballboys, which are supposed to be on the court. Plus, O'Neal should have been in the locker room anyway.

did that guy near the end have some of ben wallace's hair?

Those guys really don't look like ballboys at all. Tons of people wave towels at sporting events. Just because they had a towel, doesn't mean they were a ballboy or whatever.

He was coming to suckerpunch Artest until he turned aroud and then the guy shat his pants right before Artest clocked him.

I'm still not sold. He wasn't looking at Artest when he was skipping up. Artest is looking in the direction the guy came from for a good three steps and the guy stops with the "Oh, shit!" look when Artest squares up. I don't think he knew Artest was even there.