Basketball, unlike hockey, is a sport where fights are not allowed. The NBA, especially nowadays is called “soft”, which sometimes, when the players lose control, is not the case. Even though no NBA fan would like to see a brawl or any kind of incident during a game, these situations receive a lot of media attention and are remembered years later.

Let’s take a look at five of the biggest incidents in recent history.

The Malice at the Palace

Easily the most infamous brawl in the history of the NBA, known as The Malice at the Palace, happened on November 19, 2004. The Detroit Pistons hosted the Indiana Pacers in the Palace of Auburn Hills, in what would turn out to be a massive fight that did not only involve the players but some of the home fans in attendance as well.

The game was actually already decided, with the Pacers on a way to victory on Detroit’s home floor. In the last minute of the game, Pacers forward Ron Artest, later known as Metta World Peace, thought it was a good idea to deliver a hard foul on Piston’s big man Ben Wallace. This was where it all started, with Wallace shoving Artest, and eventually sparking an on-court brawl between the two teams.

As Artest was lying on the scorers’ table awaiting the referees’ decision on the incident, when the “show” seemed over, a fan threw a drink at Artest. The Pacers forward did not even hesitate and charged the stands, eventually ending up attacking the wrong fan. Things escalated quickly, and security had to come in to stop the skirmishes.

As expected, the league went hard on all the players involved in the incident. Artest, being the main instigator in the entire incident, would get the worst of it, as he was suspended for the rest of the season.

Michael Jordan and Reggie Miller fight

We have all heard of Michael Jordan’s competitiveness and always finding a way to defeat his rivals. He is also known for his mental strength, but MJ himself has had his bad days when his temper took over his mental stability.

One of the biggest Jordan’s rivals was Reggie Miller and the animosity between them blew up in February 1993 during a game in Indianapolis when Miller bumped into Jordan after tipping in a fast-break basket. Jordan runs after the Pacers’ guard, scratching his face, and throwing a punch, as players from both teams rushed to separate the two stars.

Miller was ejected from the game, but Jordan was allowed to continue without even being given a foul. The Bulls won the game, but the league later reviewed the tape, and Jordan was fined and suspended for one game.

Latrell Sprewell choking his coach

Back in 1997 one of the biggest incidents in the NBA occurred and it remains remembered as one of the NBA’s darkest moments.

During a Warriors practice, Latrell Sprewell had a verbal confrontation with the Golden State’s coach P.J. Carlesimo when the coach told him to “put a little mustard” on a pass. When Carlesimo approached him, Sprewell grabbed him around the neck and began choking him, until he was pulled away by several other players and team officials. Told to leave practice, Sprewell returned within 20 minutes and threw a punch at Carlesimo before he was again pulled away. 

Marcus Camby punching his own coach!

Back in 2001, when the New York Knicks hosted the San Antonio Spurs we witnessed an incident when a player hit his own coach in the face. Even though the Knicks center Marcus Camby had no intentions to punch his own coach, Jeff Van Gundy was the one who got hurt.

During one regular boxing out, the Spurs forward Danny Ferry accidentally elbowed Camby to the head, who even though looked calm and was trying to talk it out with the referee, all of a sudden run towards Ferry and tried to punch him. Van Gundy, who was fully aware of his player’s temper, tried to stop Camby, who unfortunately hit him with his head, and the Knicks head-coach ended up with a bloody forehead and more than a dozen stitches over his left eye.

Antonio Davis goes into the stands

Can you imagine what would you do if someone is messing with your wife on the stands while you are playing a basketball game?

Well, Antonio Davis has that answer.

Back in 2006 the former New York Knicks power forward Antonio Davis had been suspended five games by the NBA for entering the stands during a game at Chicago to confront a fan he thought was harassing his wife. During the overtime against the Bulls, the 6’9’’, 250 pounds big man noticed an incident around his wife in the stands and didn’t hesitate to go and check himself what’s really going on.

Luckily it wasn’t anything serious but Davis, being suspended for five games, eventually lost $700.000.