From Deseret News archives:

NBA suspends Pacers' Artest for rest of season

Eight players get shorter bans

Published: Sunday, Nov. 21, 2004 4:49 p.m. MST
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
NEW YORK — Ron Artest was suspended for the rest of the season Sunday as the NBA came down hard on three members of the Indiana Pacers for fighting with fans as a game against the Detroit Pistons degenerated into a melee.

Nine players from the teams were banned for a combined 143 games, including some of the harshest penalties the league has ever issued. Artest is the first player to be suspended for nearly an entire season for a fight during a game.

Pushing and shoving among players at Friday's game escalated into one of the worst fights in U.S. professional sports history when a fan threw a drink at Artest and he jumped into the stands, throwing punches. Nine people were treated for injuries, none serious.

"The actions of the players involved wildly exceeded the professionalism and self-control that should fairly be expected from NBA players," NBA commissioner David Stern said in a statement. He added that the league must not "allow our sport to be debased by what seem to be declining expectations."

Indiana's Stephen Jackson was suspended for 30 games and Jermaine O'Neal for 25. Detroit's Ben Wallace — whose shove of Artest after a foul led to the five-minute fracas — drew a six-game ban, while Pacers guard Anthony Johnson got five games.

Story continues below
Four players were suspended for a game apiece: Indiana's Reggie Miller and Detroit's Chauncey Billups, Elden Campbell and Derrick Coleman.

All the suspensions are without pay.

Artest, O'Neal and Jackson — who all threw punches at fans in the stands or on the court at the end of the nationally televised game Friday night — began serving their suspensions Saturday, when they and Wallace received indefinite suspensions. Indiana, limited to just six players because of the suspensions and injuries, dropped an 86-83 decision to Orlando.

Stern also noted that fans — who threw punches of their own and tossed drinks at players — shared the blame for the brawl. He said the NBA must "redefine the bounds of acceptable conduct for fans attending our games and resolve to permanently exclude those who overstep those bounds."

He added that security procedures in all NBA arenas will be reviewed and rules need to be added to prevent a repeat of what happened at Auburn Hills, Mich., on Friday.

Police were continuing to investigate the brawl, one of the NBA's most violent.

Artest and Jackson bolted into the stands near center court and throwing punches at fans after debris was tossed at the players. Later, fans who came onto the court were punched in the face by Artest and O'Neal.

Comments

You can be the first to comment on this story.

Image
Duane Burleson, Associated Press

Indiana Pacers forward Ron Artest gets into the stands to fight with some fans during a a brawl with the Detroit Pistons with just 45.9 seconds left in the game Friday. Artest was suspended for the season on Sunday by the NBA.

previousnext

Latest comments

No Uncanny, you are not the only one who can tell the difference between hugs...

Coming from out of state, I have noticed that going to college is not...

She needs to be suspended for a long time . The coach and the BYU player...

Utes get extra motivation

You had your chance at home against TCU and were routed by the faster, more...

My wife quit full-time employment for 10 years to raise our children. This...

To "Annoy a Liberal..... | 8:58 a.m." another way to annoy liberals is to...

Subway train stops short of woman

Nice to see it worked out.

I do thank all of the workers at TSA world wide for a job well done in...

Quote the news paper "it was as bad as it gets. We're just very very...

'I'm personally tired of having gay rights shoved down my throat.' Then...

Advertisements
Advertisement