15 NBA documentaries we would binge during the hiatus
By Jono Perilli
15. Malice at the Palace
Arguably one of the worst brawls in sporting history, the Malice at the Palace was an infamous case of fans getting involved when they truly shouldn’t have.
In a 2004 matchup between the Detroit Pistons and the Indiana Pacers, a brawl broke out between Pistons big-man Ben Wallace and Pacers forward Ron Artest. After those two got into it, the rest of their teams intercepted and began a bigger brawl.
After the situation was calmed down, a Pistons fan threw a cup at Artest, who was laying down on the scorer’s table. Following this, Artest got up like the damn Undertaker and charged into the stands to beat down the man who threw the cup.
Like earlier, the rest of the Pacers squad got involved and the whole situation spilled into the stands. The incident led to some heavy-handed suspensions, including Artest who was suspended for the remainder of the season.
Truly, it was one of the most disgraceful incidents in any sporting game. Nothing has been as bad since, other than some incidents where NBA players have approached fans. But we certainly think this moment in time needs a documentary to look at the impacts and the incident itself.
The basis is simple, look at what happened leading up to the incident, have exclusive interviews with some of the players involved, including the fan and Artest, and see what the aftermath for the NBA was. It’s as run-of-the-mill as you can get, but we’d be down to watch it.
Besides, this was a huge moment at the time, since it had such a huge impact on that Pacers team who were looking to contend with a prime Artest and Jermaine O’Neal in their arsenal. Its impact went deep into the acts of fans, who had to put a filter on what they do to NBA players as spectators.