Image via Complex Original
Today marks the ninth anniversary of the infamous "Malice at the Palace" incident, which stands as one of the worst moments in the history of professional basketball. While it is certainly commonplace for tempers to flare on the court, sometimes players can take things entirely too far, and the result can be some pretty unsightly events that lead to fines, suspensions, and (in some cases) the permanent tarnishing of reputations.
Legends like Julius Erving and Larry Bird have been known to mix it up right alongside notorious troublemakers like Dennis Rodman and Bill Laimbeer, although punishments for their involvement have varied widely across the league's different eras. On this dubious anniversary, let's take a look at the 25 Most Unsportsmanlike Acts in NBA History.
25. Knicks and Nuggets brawl on the court and in the stands.
Date: 12/16/2006
Game: Denver Nuggets @ New York Knicks
The Knicks and Nuggets engaged in the league's biggest brawl since the Malice at the Palace, and it saw numerous suspensions handed down as a deterrent against future fights. When the Knicks' Mardy Collins gave a particularly hard foul to the Nuggets' J.R. Smith, a crowd quickly formed as the players engaged in the typical "hold me back" behavior that usually is all that comes of these incidents. Nate Robinson-the smallest guy on the court-decided to take things up a notch, throwing some wild punches in the direction of Smith, and when things looked like they were calming down Carmelo Anthony clocked Collins square in the jaw before hastily retreating to the protection of his coaches and teammates. Seven players were suspended, with Anthony receiving the longest one (15 games).
24. Dennis Rodman headbutts referee.
Date: 3/18/1996
Game: Chicago Bulls @ New Jersey Nets
Dennis Rodman will forever be known as one of the most epic head cases in the history of the NBA. Given the incredible array of mischief he managed to get into during his career, headbutting the referee doesn't really seem like that outrageous an incident. At the time, though, it was such a shocking act that NBA senior vice president Rod Thorn termed it as "chaos." The total bill for Rodman ended up landing in excess of $200,000 when combining his fines and missed pay for the six games he was suspended as a result of his actions.
23. Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton bring guns into locker room.
Date: 12/21/2009
Game: N/A
NBA players sometimes like to act as if they are the toughest guys around. They posture, threaten, and ultimately do nothing as their disputes tend to diffuse themselves relatively innocuously. Either this was one of the most epic bluffs of all time, or Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton were not two people who were interested in peaceful resolutions. After Crittenton did not pay a gambling debt back to Arenas, the pair both brought guns into the Wizards' locker room and drew them on each other after practice one day. They were both indefinitely suspended, and in a surprise to nobody Crittenton was indicted for murder this past April and is currently awaiting trial.
22. Rasheed Wallace confronts referee in parking lot after a game.
Date: 1/15/2003
Game: Memphis Grizzlies @ Portland Trail Blazers
Given the benefit of hindsight, Rasheed Wallace probably had a point when he sought referee Tim Donaghy out in the parking lot after being ejected on a questionable call. Wallace allegedly threatened Donaghy, although he never actually touched him. The NBA didn't go into any further detail about the incident, but according to one report Wallace yelled at Donaghy "That was a bullshit call and technical, and I'm gonna get my money back," and then the pair made a move towards each other. Since Sheed had lost the benefit of the doubt long before, everyone seemed to be cool with Donaghy's account. We wonder what happened to that guy.
21. Nick Van Exel shoves referee into scorer's table after being ejected.
Date: 4/10/1996
Game: Los Angeles Lakers @ Denver Nuggets
No NBA player likes being ejected, and very few ever take it in stride. Still, perhaps Nick Van Exel could have shown a bit more restraint after being tossed from this late regular season game rather than taking his anger out on referee Ron Garretson. In exchange for his shoving Garretson into the scorer's table, Van Exel was fined $20,000 and suspended for the final seven regular season games without pay, which ended up costing him another $167,000 in salary. At the time, it was the third-longest suspension for an on-court incident in NBA history.
20. Vernon Maxwell goes into stands and punches fan.
Date: 2/6/1995
Game: Houston Rockets @ Portland Trail Blazers
Everyone's stories with this one seemed to be different and there is no lasting video footage available, but this much we know is true: Vernon Maxwell charged up into the stands during the third quarter of a game in Portland and punched a fan named Steve George in the face. George said it was because he made fun of Maxwell for having five points; Maxwell claimed it was because George was making fun of Maxwell's wife's recent miscarriage. Whatever the reason, it was the first time a player had charged into the stands to fight a fan, and carried with it a 10-game suspension.
19. Karl Malone hits Isiah Thomas in the face with a flying elbow.
Date: 12/14/1991
Game: Detroit Pistons @ Utah Jazz
Karl Malone may be one of the least beloved Hall of Famers in NBA history. He was an absolute physical freak, and took such good care of himself that he stayed in peak condition well past the typical expiration date of power forwards. This monstrous flying elbow he delivered to Isiah Thomas, though, showed what he could do when he used his strength in a less-than-benevolent way.
After Thomas torched John Stockton (whom Isiah believed had taken his Dream Team spot) earlier in the season, Malone settled the score as Thomas needed 40 stitches to close the wound the Mailman left on his face. By going after the 6'1", 180-pound point guard, Malone cemented his reputation around the league as a bully who only went after players much smaller than himself.
18. Shaq and Charles Barkley mix it up in the paint.
Date: 11/10/1999
Game: Los Angeles Lakers @ Houston Rockets
Due in part to his larger than life personality, Charles Barkley is often mischaracterized by a modern audience as having been a true bruising power forward. At 6'6" he was hardly the prototype for a post player, but one of the things that made Sir Charles great was that he did not back down from anybody. This included the 7'1" Shaquille O'Neal, whom Barkley did not appreciate giving him a little shove under the basket after the whistle.
When Shaq then threw a punch, Barkley reacted exactly as fans would expect: he tackled the much larger O'Neal and started throwing punches before the rest of their respective teams could pile on.
17. The Bulls and Knicks throw down in the playoffs right in front of the commissioner.
Date: 5/13/1994
Game: New York Knicks @ Chicago Bulls
Commissioner David Stern attends tons of contests during the NBA season, and during the playoffs he's at a game nearly every single night. So when the Bulls and Knicks met in a contentious series in the 1994 Eastern Conference Semifinals, Stern had a front row seat for all the biggest moments. One thing he surely did not like seeing was the rumble between Jo Jo English and Derek Harper, which spilled a little bit into the first row and involved a pileup of pretty much every player on the court. It was seen as enough of a problem that in the offseason it spurred the rule that results in an automatic suspension for any player leaving the bench area during a confrontation.
16. Robert Parish assaults Bill Laimbeer.
Date: 5/26/1987
Game: Detroit Pistons @ Boston Celtics
While basketball fans may have a hard time agreeing on anything, this one thing is probably true for fans of all teams (except the Pistons): nobody likes Bill Laimbeer. While certainly a skilled player and someone who was one of the earliest true "stretch" post players, he also was an antagonist who was notorious for his willingness to instigate fights with other players. In Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals made famous by Larry Bird's steal, the Celtics' Robert Parish decided that he had enough of Laimbeer, hammering him with a couple punches on a loose ball but somehow only drawing a regular foul call. He did, however, end up being suspended for Game 6 when the league office reviewed the footage after the game.
15. Dr. J and the 76ers triple team Larry Bird.
Date: 11/9/1984
Game: Philadelphia 76ers @ Boston Celtics
The 76ers and Celtics had one of the most heated rivalries of the 1980s, meeting in the playoffs seemingly every year and developing legitimate bad blood. Julius Erving and Larry Bird were not just the stars of the 76ers and Celtics, respectively, but were also often right in the middle of the antagonism between the two sides. Things boiled over here in this regular season matchup early in the 1984 season, as some jostling between Bird and Erving turned into a full-on pileup as Moses Malone and Charles Barkley held Bird so Dr. J could get in a free punch. The fight also led to this iconic image, a favorite of both 76er and Celtic fans and a reflection of just how much the two squads detested one another.
14. Latrell Sprewell chokes coach P.J. Carlesimo.
Date: 12/1/1997
Game: N/A
Anyone who has ever played sports has disagreed with his or her coach from time to time. It's the type of thing that's only natural when you have two strong-minded people who have the utmost confidence in themselves. Usually, though, when you disagree you talk it over, come to an understanding, and move on. Latrell Sprewell clearly did not subscribe to that style of conflict resolution, however. Instead, he decided to not only put his coach P.J. Carlesimo in a vicious chokehold, but Spree went after him again 20 minutes later when you'd think he would have cooled down a bit. The 68-game suspension he received is the second longest non-permanent ban in NBA history. Guess who's No. 1?
13. Scottie Pippen refuses to enter playoff game.
Date: 5/13/1994
Game: New York Knicks @ Chicago Bulls
When Michael Jordan left the Chicago Bulls for the baseball diamond, Scottie Pippen took over the reins as the team's star player and leader, guiding them to a 55-27 record and leading them in both points and assists. It would have made sense, then, that with a pivotal playoff game on the line that coach Phil Jackson would put the ball in Pippen's hands. However, with Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals in its dying seconds, Jackson decided during a timeout that rookie Toni Kukoc would take the final shot. In the kind of nonviolent resistance that would have made Gandhi proud, Pippen sat on the bench and refused to enter the game. The Bulls ended up losing the series, and despite a Hall of Fame career Pippen forever tarnished his legacy as a team-first player.
12. Chris Childs gives Kobe Bryant the two piece special.
Date: 4/2/2000
Game: New York Knicks @ Los Angeles Lakers
While he's known as one of the all-time greats now, Kobe Bryant was just another very good player back in 2000. The Knicks' Chris Childs certainly was unimpressed with the young shooting guard, and when Kobe got a little chippy with an elbow coming off a screen, Childs decided he had had enough. Standing toe to toe with his nemesis, Childs absorbed a forearm to the face then slugged Kobe on the chin with two quick jabs before Bryant even knew what hit him, touching off a brief skirmish that fortunately did not escalate beyond that.
11. Andrew Bynum tries to wipe out J.J. Barea.
Date: 5/8/2011
Game: Los Angeles Lakers @ Dallas Mavericks
It was bad enough that the Lakers were getting humiliated in their fairly feeble attempt at defending their NBA title in this second round playoff series with the Dallas Mavericks. Andrew Bynum made things way worse when he floored the Mavericks' 6'0" guard J.J. Barea on Barea's layup attempt with the Mavs leading by 30 points in the fourth quarter. Bynum's ridiculous, childish display after the foul as he ripped his jersey off not only cemented the five-game suspension he would receive, but also overshadowed the final game (for now) of Phil Jackson's legendary coaching career.
10. Bill Laimbeer picks a fight with Rick Mahorn.
Date: 4/19/1990
Game: Philadelphia 76ers vs. Detroit Pistons
We could make a whole list of Bill Laimbeer unsportsmanlike acts. He made a career of it and maybe that's why he's only allowed to coach in the WNBA. In the video above, he picks a fight with former fellow bad boy Rick Mahorn by shoving the ball in his face. Charles Barkley immediately comes to the aid of his teammate and Bill doesn't back down. At least he picked fights with guys his own size.
9. Jeff Van Gundy hangs on for dear life.
Date: 4/13/1998
Game: Miami Heat @ New York Knicks
Even though this fight was ostensibly about the bad blood between former teammates Larry Johnson and Alonzo Mourning, Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy was the true winner. As the two post players start to go at it, the 5' 9" Van Gundy bravely charged in to break the fight up. Considering Mourning's sizable advantage in both size and strength, Van Gundy slid right down Zo's leg until all he was left to do was hilariously hold on for dear life, hoping (we guess?) to simply annoy Mourning enough to the point that he'd stop fighting. Even Van Gundy himself admitted that he "looked like a fool."
8. Tree Rollins bites Danny Ainge.
Date: 4/24/1983
Game: Atlanta Hawks @ Boston Celtics
Skirmishes in the playoffs are to be expected. When you mix intense players and hugely important games, you're going to end up with a very combustible mix, so it really isn't much of a surprise that the Celtics and Hawks got into a bit of a scuffle during their first round series in the 1983 playoffs. What is a bit of a surprise is that during the fight, Hawks' center Tree Rollins suddenly found the Celtics' Danny Ainge's arm dangling in front of his face, and decided to chomp down on it. Ainge had to get a couple stitches and still bears a scar on his right middle finger, and the legendary headline of "Tree Bites Man" adorned the Boston Heraldthe following morning.
7. Serge Ibaka makes Blake Griffin bow down.
Date: 3/3/2013
Game: Oklahoma City Thunder @ Los Angeles Clippers
This caused a bit of controversy last season. Dwyane Wade was suspended one game for "allegedly" kicking Ramon Sessions in the nads while Ibaka was given only a flagrant foul for his actions. If you compare the two, you clearly can see that Ibaka's was blatant. But hey, karma's a bitch. The refs always side with the Heat whenever they flop so...
Ralph Sampson (7' 4") punches Jerry Sichting (6' 1").
Date: 6/5/1986
Game: Boston Celtics @ Houston Rockets
This is perhaps the ultimate NBA example of "pick on somebody your own size." To be fair to Ralph Sampson, though, the Celtics' Jerry Sichting was the epitome of the irritating, scrappy sixth man who you just want to absolutely deck. Maybe it would have been better if Ralph had shown some restraint, but there's no denying the immediate outcome: the Rockets won the game and went back to Boston for Game 6 of the Finals with a little bit of momentum. Things did not go well for Sampson from there, though; some borderline-psychotic Celtics fans hung an effigy of the Rockets' center from the balcony, rattling him and spurring the Celtics to a series-clinching win.
5. Kevin McHale clotheslines Kurt Rambis.
Date: 6/6/1984
Game: Boston Celtics @ Los Angeles Lakers
It's kind of funny to think of what would happen if Kevin McHale unleashed this same clothesline on Kurt Rambis in 2013. Not only would McHale be thrown out of the game, but there would surely be huge fines and suspensions handed down, righteous indignation spouted from all angles of the media, and countless hours of conversation committed to the horror of it all. Instead, McHale was only assessed a personal foul, there were no fines or suspensions, and play resumed as normal in Game 4 of the 1984 Finals. We miss the NBA's golden era.
4. Charles Barkley spits on a fan.
Date: 3/26/1991
Game: Philadelphia 76ers @ New Jersey Nets
To be fair, Charles Barkley was certainly not aiming for the eight-year-old girl that his saliva ended up hitting. And to his credit, Barkley made it right by not only apologizing, but also hooking her and her family up with tickets to games anytime he was in town. The true target of the spit, a man who had been abusing Barkley with racial epithets all game, escaped punishment; while Sir Charles was apologetic about his decision to spit in the first place, he also pointed out that he was standing up for himself, saying that "I don't think a fan has the right to come to the game and be abusive."
3. Dennis Rodman kicks a cameraman in the groin.
Date: 1/15/1997
Game: Chicago Bulls @ Minnesota Timberwolves
Dennis Rodman was no stranger to controversy throughout his career, and as he got older his behavior seemed to get increasingly more bizarre. Perhaps his nadir came on this fateful night in Minnesota, where he took exception to the cameraman being too much in his personal space. His wild, angry kick earned Rodman an 11-game suspension (the longest of his career), a $25,000 fine, and also made all future cameramen tremble whenever the rebounding machine happened to land in their immediate vicinity.
2. Kermit Washington punches Rudy Tomjanovich.
Date: 12/9/1977
Game: Houston Rockets @ Los Angeles Lakers
Prior to Kermit Washington nearly killing Rudy Tomjanovich on the court, the NBA was a league dominated by fights. Players would get tangled up, throw some punches at each other, and then the game would resume as if nothing happened at all. Players like Washington were viewed as both basketball players and enforcers, a necessary component for any team. Tomjanovich was certainly not one of those types; while he did have some size at 6' 8", he was a peacemaker on the floor and not one you'd expect to be at the center of one of the worst on-court moments in NBA history. This incident even inspired an entire book written about what happened that night and how it forever changed the NBA.
1. Malice at the Palace
Date: 11/19/2004
Game: Indiana Pacers @ Detroit Pistons
While it may seem odd to celebrate the ugly Malice at the Palace incident, it did at least do some good for the NBA. It brought into focus the heightened need for referees to be more preventative in their approach to confrontations on the court, rather than allowing things to escalate. Today's technical-happy game may not be perfect but it is at the very least largely free of ugly fights. It also taught this guy a valuable lesson about going onto the court and threatening NBA players; remember: maybe it isn't such a good idea to challenge a professional athlete who is over a foot taller than you.