NBA’s Worst Ending

On November nineteenth, two thousand and four, was one of the worst days in the NBA history, as the Indiana Pacers were facing off against the Detroit Pistons at the Palace of Auburn Hills, where the Pistons played home games. This was a rivalry game as the two teams were two of the best in the NBA at the time, fighting for the number one seed in the Eastern Conference. But the game ended at early as Pacers small forward Ronal Test had a beer thrown on him after he was fouled, and he ran into the stands to attack, causing a brawl from fans and players, breaking the unwritten rule that fans stayed in the stands players stayed on the court, changing the game and changing the fortunes of the Pacers and Ronal Tests forever. Today we're going to dive into how all this happened and what it affected in the NBA and these teams going forward today on Daily Sports History. Welcome to Daily Sports History. I'm Ethan Rees, your guide as you daily learn more about sports history, increasing your sports knowledge. As to day, we learn about the maluse at the Palace and today's trivic question to listen out for is how many players got suspended from the maluse at the Palace. Now, coming into this game, the Pacers were six and two and the Pistons were four and three, and they hadn't met each other since the Eastern Conference Finals in the previous year's playoffs, where the Pistons won in six games en route to the NBA title, and that Conference finals could have been the Pacers winning and winning their first championship. So there was a lot of animosity between these two teams as they were two of the best teams in the Eastern Conference and the league at the time, and the Pistons that year were led by head coach Larry Brown and they had all Stars in Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Tayshawn Prince, Rashid Wallace, and Ben Wallace, and that year, Ben Wallace would be named Defensive Player the US year third Team All NBA, and him, along with Chauncey Phillips and Tayshaun Prince would all be named on the NBA All Defensive Team. So they were a stacked team with a roster that could rifle anyone in the league. And the Pacers were coming off a great season as well as they were as their head coach, Brick Carlisle led them to sixty one games the previous year and the previous year, Ronard Tess was the defensive Player of the Year made third Team All NBA, along with his fellow teammate Jermaine O'Neill who made second Team All NBA. And they also had Hall of Famer Reggie Miller on their team, who who was playing his last season in the two thousand and four to two thousand and five season. And because these teams were so good, this game was nationally televised on ESPN, and as we mentioned, both teams had great defenders and defense really dominated the matchup as the Pacers got off quick to a twenty point lead seven minutes before halftime, but the Pistons were able to cut that down to sixteen by halftime and came out in the third on a nine to two run. But the Pacers still had the lead heading into the fourth quarter at eighty to sixty four, and that didn't stop in the fourth quarter. Though the Pistons started the fourth quarter hitting a couple of threes, the Pacers were able to make some field goals of their own taking the lead to ninety three to seventy nine with three minutes and fifty two seconds remaining, and though the game seemed like it was out of hand for the Pistons, most of the starters and key players in the game were still remaining in the game, as this was more of a pride situation, as the Pacers wanted to show that they could beat the Pistons this year and the Pistons wanted to show that they were still the champs. And as the game dwindled down with just under one minute left to go, the Pacers were winning by fifteen ninety seven to eighty two when Piston center Ben Wallace fouled on our Tests with a hard foul slapping across the back of his head as he attempted a lay up. This caused a scuffle between the two and our Test was kind of known as being a little bit of a hot head, and so he walked away, and he walked away, and the refs got together to see what they were going to do where there's gonna be an ejection, a technical foul flagrant, And as they did this, our Test walked over to the scorer's table and laid down an unusual move, but nothing that would be that's considered crazy as rour Test was just trying to calm down from an intense situation and while he was still fueled up a fan through a drink and a plastic cup at Ronald Tests, hitting him in the chest and our Test immediately reacted, jumping off the table and charging into the stands. And what's interesting when you watch this is like everyone kind of spreads and runs away, as you can see the anger in Ronal Tests when you watch this video, he is looking for vengeance. It's like if a bull had gone up into the stands, you would run away too, And everyone ran and our Test grabbed a spectator who he thought was responsible for doing it. Unfortunately he found the wrong guy and was hitting the wrong guy. Now. Stephen Jackson on the Pacers actually ran up to our Test to try to help him as well. As these two were fighting as they went and this caused many fans to storm the court and there was actually fighting on the court as when they finally got our Tests onto the court, he actually punched another fan and then Jermaine O'Neil came running and punched another fan in the jaw while he was slipping on some liquid. It was a crazy chaotic scene. Security took over as teams worked to take both their teams into their locker rooms to sell everything down and to end this commotion. As they got the teams into the locker room, they announced the game had ended early and to please, in orderly fashion make your way out. Now this had repercussions a lot of ways, especially for the Pacers. Now, there were some for the Pistons, but the Pacers, who instigated a lot of this and cost a lot of the fighting, got most of the issues. Roner Tests was suspended the remainder of the year, losing out his entire salary. Steven Jackson was suspended thirty games, was suspended fifteen which was originally twenty five but they got reduced. Anthony Johnson was suspended five games. Of the Pacers, Reggie Miller got suspended one game, and for the Detroit Pistons, Ben Wall suspended six games, and Chauncey Bhillips and Derrick Coleman and Elon Campbell were all suspended one game. And obviously, with all these suspensions, the Pacers fell apart. Their season ended with just forty four wins. Fifteen, less than a year previously. They were able to make the playoffs but lost in the semi finals as they owned as they didn't have one of their best players run our Tests, who was suspended the entire year. But this also brought criminal charges, as if you get in a fight in public, that can be assault and there can be a lot of issues with that. So in December two thousand and four, five Placers players and five Pistons fans were charged with various assault and battery levels our Tests. Harrison Jackson and Anthony Johnson the Pacers were charged with one count of assault in battery each and three fans received the same charge, and all the players that were charged pleaded no contest to the charges. In September two thousand and five, they were all given a sentence of one year probation along with sixty hours of community service a two hundred and fifty dollars fine in anger management counseling. Now, the guy who threw the drink that started this all was named John Green as he was because not only did he throw the cup when when Ronard Test was attacking the wrong man, he actually came up and was hitting our Test and he was sentenced to thirty days in jail with two years of probation and had been banned by the Pistons for life. Now this caused a lot of issues as the NBA was battling with some image issues at the time. Everyone thinking in the league was full of thugs former gangsters, even though they weren't. Many of them were just players. But it changed a lot of the image and the NBA instituted more security as they needed to make sure that fans didn't have as easy as access to the court as they did, as that cost a lot of the issues, and the league also limited the size of alcoholic drinks and would discontinue alcoholic sales at the end of the third quarter to help limit issues happening at the end of games. Now the following year, the Pacers would actually trade ron Er tests the Sacramento Kings as they could not as they felt he could not play for the team anymore, starting a new era for the Indiana Pacers, and they still have yet to win an NBA championship, and many argue that two thousand and four team may have been the best team the Pacers had ever had and was lost out to this crazy event in these fights. Now, Ronald Tests eventually changed his name to Meadow World Peace and did win a world championship with the with Kobe Bryant and the LA Lakers, which is a little bittersweet for the fans of the Pacers as they just saw what could have been if he had stayed with their team. And this goes to show you how one moment can change the course of history. The Pacers could have kept their team together if this didn't happen, then the game ended one minute earlier. The Pacers may have won a championship, kept their team intact, and continued a dynasty, but instead this broke their team apart and they basically had to start rebuilding from that point on. And we're always going to be left with what could have been. And if you want more basketball history, check out the Dime Dropper podcast with Darien Vasari, who takes a look at the game of basketball and all the trials and tribulation of professional sports and the social impact it has on the game. And if you enjoyed today's episode of Daily Sports History, please make sure you like him subscribe wherever you're at. That's the best way so you do not miss a single episode, and we'll be back tomorrow for more daily sports history. And did you catch the answer to today's trivia question how many players were suspended in this one game? There were nine players suspended for this game, with Ronald Test, Stephen Jackson, Ermain O'Neil, Ben Wallace, Anthony Johnson, Reggie Miller, Chauncey Phillips, Dereck Coleman, and Alden Campbell all being suspended, with Ronald Tests obviously getting the most being suspended the rest of the season.