Basketball is knowingly a very physical sport. Weather your being guarded or a pick was set. Your bound to get tangled up at some point during the game. In order to even be in the NBA you would have to play aggressively and that would mean putting you all on the court. Even if it means coming face to face with fight. If someone throws a punch would you not punch back?
During a highly anticipated game between the Lakers and the Rockets a brawl occurred between to All-Stars. After Shaq missed a free throw Charles Barkley decided to toss the ball directly at Shaq’s head. Possibly not his greatest decision. Shaq retaliated by throwing a punch at Barley but it didn’t connect. What followed was an all out fight between the two big men. Shaq was consequently ejected from the game. Unsurprisingly this was actually Shaq’s second ejection that week.
In a game where the New York Knicks were predicted to beat the San Antonio Spurs a fight broke out. Normally fights are between the players but this time a coach was involved. The Spur’s Danny Ferry and Knick’s Marcus Camby were tussling under the basket for a rebound. Ferry hit Camby in the eye however when the whistle was blown Camby stormed up the court toward Ferry. This led to the referee having to hold back Cambry as he tried to get at Ferry. Even though the ref seemed to have the situation handled as Cambry calmed down, Cambry’s anger resurfaced. Cambry got another glance at Ferry and decided to walk up to him and take a swing. The knick’s coach immediately got between the two before Cambry could fully punch Ferry. It led to the coach taking the force of the swing and he ended up in the hospital with over a dozen stitches near his left eye. Cambry was facing suspension from five straight games and fined 25,000 dollars. However, if you were a millionaire would you care about a small fine?
In another fight involving the Knicks head coach, this was a playoff game between the Miami heat and New York Knicks. Despite Miami being favored to win the match it ended up being a very close game. This game took place when a team only needed to win best of five games to advance. With Miami up two games to one the Knicks needed to go all out. With tensions high and the knicks in the lead when Alonzo Morning and Larry Johnson simultaneously throwing punches at each other. Despite being friends in previous seasons the two just couldn’t get along during this game. The fight continued leading to the Knicks head coach attempting to get between the two. However, the coach being just five foot nine compared to seven foot players, fell to the ground but continued to hold onto Johnson’s leg. The whole team them tried to break the fight and it eventually fizzled out.
I had not expected to read about fights in the NBA as I don’t usually hear about it often from media outlets or news cycles. However, I thought your description of these infamous fights was enticing and made me realize how heated the game can become. Your use of rhetorical questions was well done and to put it frankly, yes, I would probably fight back!
I think your blog on “the best flights in NBA history” is really interesting and unexpected. I would never have expected reading something about fighting in NBA, especially when the league is more focused in tackling down these aggressive plays these days. I think your rhetorical question is absolutely amazing. Honestly, even though fighting is not ethically good, I miss those days where players fight for themselves and their teammates.