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An Oral History of the Malice At the Palace

phongonephongone 1,652 Posts
edited March 2012 in Strut Central
Essential reading for NBA fans and fans (or haters) of Metta World Peace. The story of what really went down when the Pistons and Pacers (and fans) brawled in 2004. Interesting how Stephen Jackson and Jermaine O'Neal felt that they put their lives and careers on the line to defend teammate Ron Artest and then felt betrayed when he later demanded a trade.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7612311/an-oral-history-malice-palace

  Comments

  • tripledoubletripledouble 7,636 Posts
    nice. cant wait to read this
  • HarveyCanalHarveyCanal "a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
    Jermaine Oneal tried to kill that dude, what a punk.
  • DJ_EnkiDJ_Enki 6,475 Posts
    I just finished reading that. Pretty crazy. Dudes are still pretty unhappy with Artest because of how he bailed on the team afterward. I'd probably feel the same way.
  • tripledoubletripledouble 7,636 Posts
    There were a bunch of people right above where the Pacers were going out. And there was this one young woman who was very nicely dressed in the midst of it. I remember thinking, Oh, this poor woman. In the midst of this mob mentality, I hope she's going to be OK. And as I'm saying that in my head, she pulls out a bottle, a full water bottle, and throws it at point-blank range at the Pacers going off the floor. I couldn't believe it. Even this nicely dressed woman who seemed so out of place in the mob, she just got sucked into the whole mob mentality and it showed you how scary it could be.

    and

    Bill Laimbeer and I were broadcasting the game down by the Pistons bench. Everything happened on the other end of press row. And the reason I wasn't particularly shook up about it is because Bill Laimbeer didn't seem to be particularly bothered by it. He was kind of nonplussed by the whole thing.

    i actually watch the footage from the fight a couple times a year. not sure why

    pity they didnt get Wallace interviewed. and hilarious that ARtest and his brother thought he might get a 3 game suspension
  • phongonephongone 1,652 Posts
    HarveyCanal said:
    Jermaine Oneal tried to kill that dude, what a punk.

    Granted, Oneal overreacted, but from his (and the other Pacers') mindset, it was basically a fight between the team against 20,000 screaming Detroit fans.
  • HarveyCanalHarveyCanal "a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
    Fight, fine. But let normal human-sized dude at least stand up straight before you throw a running knock-out punch at him.
  • DJ_EnkiDJ_Enki 6,475 Posts
    HarveyCanal said:
    Fight, fine. But let normal human-sized dude at least stand up straight before you throw a running knock-out punch at him.

    There's a darkly funny line in there from Scot Pollard about some of the fans who went onto the court to try to throw down with the Pacers: "Some of the fans, they get down on the court and are saying, 'I'm going to go punch this guy. I'm going to go punch this guy.' Then they get close and they're like, 'Wow. I can't reach his face.'"
  • HarveyCanalHarveyCanal "a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
    Yeah, saw that and also found it hilarious.
  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    HarveyCanal said:
    Fight, fine. But let normal human-sized dude at least stand up straight before you throw a running knock-out punch at him.

    Why would u run up on a 610 dude when you know you dont have hand skills?
  • HarveyCanalHarveyCanal "a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
    Dude was getting up off the floor. Wouldn't call that running up. But good thing for everybody that Oneal slipped and mostly missed.
  • The_NonThe_Non 5,691 Posts
    An acquaintance of mine wrote this book, coming out soon. I frequently don't agree with things he says, but I thought some of you might be interested in this one:

    http://www.amazon.com/After-Artest-Assault-Blackness-Relations/dp/1438442068/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330555771&sr=8-1
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