Fifteen years after ‘The Malice at the Palace’: How the NBA bounced back from bedlam


(Top Photo by Allen Einstein/NBAE via Getty Images)


Michael Lee 
The Athletic / The New York Times - Nov 18, 2019

David Stern was having a quiet evening at home, his sweet tooth calling him into the kitchen to get his second dessert for the night, when he saw something that nearly made the then-NBA commissioner drop his plate. The wildest scene the league had ever seen — beer coming from the stands, players decking fans and pure bedlam ensuing all over the Palace of Auburn Hills — was being broadcast live on national TV, to his dismay. Stern scurried over to his phone and called deputy commissioner Russ Granik.

“I said, ‘Holy Moses, Russ.’ I probably was a little more colorful than that,” Stern said in a recent telephone interview with The Athletic, “but I said, ‘Turn your TV on, you’re not going to believe what’s unfolding here.’”

The incident, which will forever be known as “The Malice at the Palace,” took place on Nov. 19, 2004, some 15 years ago. The league handed out its most severe player punishments ever fewer than 48 hours later, with Ron Artest receiving an unprecedented 73-game suspension for rushing into the stands to mush a Detroit Pistons fan in the face. Footage of the melee was unavoidable for anyone with a computer or a TV. Pundits bashed the NBA in columns and talking-head debate shows. And the whole spectacle spilled into the court room, where criminal charges were levied. All because some guy thought it would be funny to pelt Artest with a cup of Diet Coke.

It set off think pieces and hot takes and invoked race, hip-hop and whatever else fans or casual observers wanted to project on to the game.

“I didn’t like it, obviously, because it gave every radio shock jock the opportunity to talk about the ‘punks’ and the ‘thugs,’ which we know were code words for the black players of the NBA,” Stern said.

He encountered several dilemmas in his nearly 30-year tenure as commissioner – including Latrell Sprewell attempting to strangle his coach, referee Tim Donaghy getting busted betting on games and two labor disputes that ended in lockout-shortened seasons. And he believes none caused him more panic than the “existential crisis” of Magic Johnson retiring from HIV, a situation that, at the time, felt like a death sentence, not just the end of an all-time great’s career. Perhaps through the passage of time, Stern has been able to distance himself from the mayhem of the “Malice” and downplay its significance.



“Maybe it wasn’t our greatest moment — but I didn’t consider that we were hitting rock bottom at all,” Stern said.

This isn’t a rehash of what happened during a season from which only six current NBA players remain. This is a tale of recovery, for the league and for the reputation of its players. Franchise valuations are higher than ever: back then the Los Angeles Lakers were the most valuable team, worth $447 million. Today, every franchise is worth at least $1 billion, according to Forbes. Player contracts have ballooned, with a record-breaking broadcast deal that happened months after Adam Silver replaced Stern as commissioner. And the popularity of NBA players has never been higher, with three among the 10 most recognizable athletes in the world in LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry.


“It’s been a long climb,” Stern said. “When you asked me what the proudest thing that happened on my watch is, that by the time I stepped away, our players were viewed as being at the top of the celebrity pyramid. They’re thoughtful. They’re making intelligent business decisions. Many of them have their own fashion lines and it’s very rewarding for me to watch that and to see, where if you go back 30 years, they weren’t at the top of the celebrity pyramid, they were at the basement of it.

“That’s just year after year of, I would say, positive reinforcement. That they understand that they have certain obligations to the league and the reputation of the league and all players. And to the people that came before them, that set them up to be so powerful and well remunerated. So, it was the same functionality that increased the value of the franchises, that has increased the value of player contracts as well. I think it’s just great. It’s just great.”


Then NBA Commissioner David Stern at the NBA’s press conference addressing 
the Pistons/Pacers fight. (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)

Rules changes

Much of the league’s growth has been the natural progression that comes from the increased value of live events in an age of streaming and on-demand viewing. Familiarity and stability have also played a role but some has been strategic. Most of what changed the trajectory positively for the league took place after the Indiana Pacers brawled with the Detroit Pistons and their fans. But rules changes that resulted in a more wide-open, free-flowing game were implemented prior to the season, but would mostly be felt over subsequent years. The residuals of the overly-physical, infuriatingly isolation-happy style from the previous decade had bogged down the game, creating a product that was becoming more difficult to watch.

Stern sought out a trusted team owner, Jerry Colangelo, to establish a committee to implement new rules to energize the league, because the games had gotten ugly. “I said to Jerry, ‘Let’s change,’” Stern said. “What happens is Steve Francis goes to the corner and bounces the ball for like a half an hour, and the other offensive players go to the parking lot and the defenses have to chase them down there…We found a way to open it up. And it became more fun.”

The NBA did away with the defensive guidelines that wouldn’t allow teams to play zone, forced teams to advance the ball beyond half court in eight seconds instead of 10 and “hand checking was hand checked, if you will,” Colangelo said in a phone interview. “It cleaned up the game and it gave the little guy an opportunity to play again, and we’re talking about point guard. The game was a better game to watch. We had quickened the pace. At the time, it was needed.”

Colangelo’s Suns — coached by Mike D’Antoni and led by Steve Nash — were the first team to truly exploit the rules, establishing a seven-seconds-or-less offense that would be a precursor to the analytics-driven, three-point-loving style of the modern game. That has resulted in a product that’s easier to watch and promote, with increased scoring providing more opportunities for more than one star to emerge on teams. “The game will always continue to be tweaked. I think the game is in great shape, in terms of rules and regulations,” Colangelo said.
USA Basketball and likable stars

Stern doesn’t believe the league was on some sort of “downward spiral” when the Malice at the Palace took place, but that wasn’t the only incident that triggered a negative backlash in 2004. Earlier that summer, at the Athens Olympics, Team USA suffered an embarrassing bronze medal finish that had coach Larry Brown clashing publicly with players. A poorly-constructed team was thrown together after several stars backed out and it lost to Argentina, Lithuania and a U.S. commonwealth, Puerto Rico. Players were perceived as spoiled and too rich to concern themselves with taking pride in the country. Stern was instrumental in getting NBA players to participate in the original Dream Team in 1992 and decided it was time to get more involved in how the nation was represented in international competitions. So, he reached out to Colangelo.

“I thought that the NBA got blamed for whatever happened in the Olympics and I said, ‘If we’re going to get blamed, we might as well take a more proactive role,’” Stern said. “I was unhappy that there were back and forths between players and coaches. I asked Jerry if he would he accept the role to increase the importance of the Olympics so that our country could be in a position to be represented by a team that wanted to be there, rather than consider it to be any part of a chore.”

Colangelo had sold the Phoenix Suns to Robert Sarver in April 2004, for a then-record $401 million. He stepped away from the league to deal with surgery for prostate cancer but Stern called in January 2005, seeking his assistance on this endeavor. “I said, instinctively, ‘Sure I’ll do it. But I have two conditions,’” Colangelo recalled in a phone interview. “He said, ‘What are they?’ I said, one, full autonomy, in terms of picking the coaches and the players… And he said, ‘Done. What’s No. 2?’ And I said, ‘I don’t want to hear about a budget.’ In typical Stern fashion, he went off on that one. And I let him do it and I said, ‘David, are you finished? It’s still No. 2.’ He acquiesced.”

Right away, Colangelo was adamant about changing the culture of USA Basketball and sought to establish a program that involved a full three-year commitment from the initial participants, including his selection as head coach, Mike Krzyzewski. In 2008, the United States captured gold in Beijing with a collection of young talent that would carry the league for several years thereafter in LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh and Deron Williams, and veterans in Kobe Bryant and Jason Kidd. The Redeem Team did more than restore American basketball on the court. By giving the impression that they took pride in representing their country, many of the negative associations applied to NBA players began to fade away.


LeBron James’ rise from prodigy to brand name superstar helped the league rebound from “image problems” both real and imagined. (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)

“It was a perfect moment,” Colangelo said of that Olympic medal ceremony, “because few people have an opportunity to have a vision, have a plan, see it executed perfectly and get the desired result and that’s what happened. That moment was kind of a springboard for nothing but positive response and exposure.

“We definitely had to fix the image,” Colangelo said. “That was a tonic at the time that was required and I think that it played a significant role.”

Another off-shoot of the USA Basketball experience is that the foundation for a future super team in Miami was being established through all of those summers training and competing together. James’s decision to leave Cleveland and team up with Wade and Bosh was controversial but it also raised his profile, making him a polarizing figure who made people pay attention. And in winning two championships with the Heat, James proved to be worth the immense hype that his move endeared.

The league struggled to find a player to replace Michael Jordan after his final retirement from the Chicago Bulls. James arrived immediately after Jordan walked away for good, from the Wizards, in 2003. His eight straight Finals appearances and steady climb up the all-time lists of almost every statistical category have given the NBA a transcendent ambassador and, to some, a challenger for the title of the best to ever do it.

“We have so many faces of the league. (LeBron) may be closest to a perpetual MVP candidate at the top of the pyramid of basketball talent, but when you think about Steph Curry and Kevin Durant and all of the great players, (James) Harden and (Russell) Westbrook, etc. You don’t get great unless you get measured against somebody, and LeBron deserves his greatness tag,” Stern said.
The dress code

To change the perception of NBA players, Stern understood that it was also important to change the optics. Frustrated by players showing up to games in baggy, oversized T-shirts and throwback jerseys, Stern imposed a dress code before the 2005-06 season, which required players to wear a minimum of a sport coat, a shirt with a collar and either jeans or slacks, while sitting on the bench. Stern caught a ton of flak from the Players Association, fans and media, who believed the implementation to be both paternalistic and controlling. Once the initial, suspicious reaction died down, something surprising happened: the players embraced it. Strolls to the locker room are now fashion runways.

“My biggest determination was where a leisure suit fits into the mix,” Stern said with a laugh, “or something silly like that. But to me, our players just took the challenge and literally began dressing like fashion plates, which I often say, is something I would do if I had their shape. Because those guys are in the best shape of any athletes in the world. I think it’s great. They just took it to the next level. We’ll see your dress code and we’ll raise you one. I kind of enjoyed it because GQ, Vanity Fair, Esquire, you name it, and our guys were the best-dressed people around. I couldn’t have been happier with the response. I don’t know whether I feel vindicated or not, but … players understand and understood then, that we’re all in this together.”
Social media and social activism

Michelle Roberts didn’t take control of the National Basketball Players Association until nearly 10 years after the Malice at the Palace. She has always been a fan of the game, but also troubled by how the players were perceived.



“I remember people referring to them as thugs. The perception was that they used drugs. And I never believed that. Neither did the people around me,” said Roberts, who added that by the time she came in, three years after a protracted lockout, the most ardent complaint she heard was that the players made too much money. “That was the most negative perception that I was feeling in the streets, as they say, about our players. These were a bunch of greedy players.”

That was an improvement over what had been said about them. Over the past decade, players have been able to counter talk of being thugs by speaking directly to their fans on social media. Platforms like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook have provided an outlet to deliver unfiltered — or in some cases, filtered to the point of being polished — messages to their followers that present genuine or packaged personalities. That has increased the visibility of players and made them more relatable, stripping away some of the boundaries that would otherwise exist because of their financial status.

“I don’t think any of this would’ve been possible without social media. I’m old enough to know what life was like before people were communicating nonstop with strangers, all day, every day,” Roberts said. “So I think that has a lot to do with just the perception, that fans, to me, really believe they know our players a lot more than fans in the past, believed they knew the players.”

Players, such as James, have also decided to engage in social activism, taking on causes with which they feel personally connected. “We had a little bit of blip after China, but before then, there was a tremendous amount of regard for our players’ willingness to use their platform to speak out on things that they found politically offensive or personally objective. And I love having people say to me, ‘NBA players are great. They’re not just shutting up and dribbling. They’re out there.’ I think we’re at a pretty all-time high, in terms of public perception of NBA players. I would venture to say basketball players in the NBA were some of the most admired and respected athletes in the entire world.”

Stern concurred. “I believe that our players are seen as thoughtful, concerned citizens who work for good causes, have views that are encouraged by Adam and their teams to speak on issues that concern them,” he said. “And that’s a position that they’ve earned to be listened to, to lead the way on important issues.”


As new stars like Steph Curry and Kevin Durant emerged in the second decade of the 21st Century, the NBA changed its narrative by reaching global brand status. (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
A continued complicated player-fan relationship

When told that the 15-year anniversary of ‘The Malice’ was approaching, Stern jokingly replied, “Happy anniversary!?!”

The violation of the unique, intimate in-game experience of a basketball game bothered Stern most about the incident.

“We felt we had to protect what I would say, the fan-player barrier because we can’t have fights rolling into the stands. That’s just a no-no,” he said. “We have to take on fan behavior, but also, we have to make sure that fans feel secure, so they’re not threatened by what might be going on on the court, because we were of the belief then and I’m the belief now, that we have the best seat in sports and we didn’t want to jeopardize it by fights. It’s not acceptable for fans to abuse players, throw things at them. And it’s not acceptable of players to get involved in fisticuffs and threatening the fans.”



The NBA has avoided having a duplication of what occurred in suburban Detroit, but the past year has exposed how delicate the situation remains. Westbrook had a heated exchange with a fan at a Utah Jazz fan that, fortunately, never escalated beyond words but saw the fan banned for life from all events at Vivint Smart Home Arena. During Game 3 of the NBA Finals, billionaire investor and Golden State Warriors part-owner Mark Stevens shoved Kyle Lowry and cursed him. Lowry kept his cool and demanded Stevens’ removal. The league fined Stevens $500,000 and banned him for a full season.

“I almost thank God it was Kyle, because he’s been around the block. It takes a veteran like Kyle, to say, ‘OK. Count to 10. Get rid of this guy.’ But some of our guys are really young and they shouldn’t be required to show that kind of resolve,” Roberts said. “I do worry that we now live in a more toxic atmosphere and like everything else, sports is not immune from it. I think if we do anything other than be hyper-vigilant, I think we’re inviting trouble. We need a zero-tolerance policy. If somebody behaves badly, they should be banned for life. I don’t care if it’s a season ticket holder or an owner. If you behave badly, you should not be allowed to be at these games because you’re dangerous. It concerns me, because people are crazy.”

Fifteen years ago, ‘The Malice’ was mostly covered as a situation in which NBA players lost control but it also reflected how unruly fans can disrupt what should be an enjoyable environment. Stern turned the volume up to 10 with punishments that made it clear that players can never cross that line, no matter how tempting it might be in a competitive, tension-filled game.

“Our guys are very good that way,” Stern said. “They understand what’s at work here, and that the abusive fans are only a very small subset of the greater fanbase and they have to have confidence that those fans will be dealt with harshly. That’s what happens.

“It’s respect for the game,” he continued, “It’s respect that leads to restraint when fans are abusive. It’s the same respect for causing players to form their own foundations and visit schools and do things together with their teams. There’s really been a lot of cooperation, between teams and players, to uplift this game and get our players the status they deserve.”

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