Charlotte Hornets And Detroit Pistons At The Spectrum Center Turned Into Malice At The Palace 5.0 [VIDEO]

Sports fan will never forget in 2004 the “Malice at the Palace” were a fight involving players and fans that occurred during a NBA game between the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons at the Palace in Auburn Hills, Michigan.  Last night a the Spectrum Center the Charlotte Hornets and Detroit Pistons tried to recreate that infamous night, with Malice At The Palace 5.0, in the second half with a massive brawl that turned the game into mass chaos.

Midway through the third quarter after Hornets forward Moussa Diabate fouled Pistons center Jalen Duren as he was going up for a shot in the middle of the lane. The two got face-to-face after the foul was called, and words were exchanged briefly, before Duren gave Diabate a hard shove to his face.  Diabate charged at Duren, and things immediately escalated into a huge altercation that took several assistants and officials to break up. Diabate tried to swing at Duren as he was being held back, then he broke away to charge at Duren again.  Miles Bridges charged at Duren and threw a punch. That prompted Isaiah Stewart, who wasn’t even in the game at the time, to run off the bench and scuffle with Bridges.  Then it was all down hill from there.

Charlotte Hornets Moussa Diabate and Miles Bridges were ejected from the game, along with Detroit Pistons Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart. Hornets coach Charles Lee was ejected in the fourth quarter after he had to be restrained from going after an official while arguing a call.

The Detroit Pistons held on to win the basketball game against the Charlotte Hornet 110-104.

The consequences of the Malice at the Palace included massive player suspensions (Ron Artest’s 86 games, Stephen Jackson’s 30, Jermaine O’Neal’s 15), significant lost wages, criminal charges for players and fans (assault and battery), severe bans for fans from the arena, and major league-wide security and alcohol policy changes, all leading to a tarnished NBA reputation and a focus on player-fan interaction.  An incident that wouldn’t have happened hadn’t one fan threw a water bottle at Artest and another fan confronted Arest on the basketball court.

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