On November 19, 2004, the Pacers and Pistons took the nationally televised stage in a game between two teams presumably contending for a title. The game was dominated by the Pacers up until the final moments when the arena erupted into chaos in one of the most famous fan incidents in sports history. With 45.9 seconds left in the game, Pacers' forward Ron Artest fouled Ben Wallace as he was driving to the basket. Wallace, out of frustration and contempt for Artest, started a minor scuffle between Pistons and Pacers players. That incident ended quickly with Coaches and Referees separating players. As things had settled down, Ron Artest laid down on top of the scores table in order to prevent himself from becoming further involved in the fight. This is when things got out of control as a fan struck Artest with a beverage, leading Artest to charge into the stands blindly in order to fight that fan. Unfortunately, Artest identified the wrong fan and began punching someone else. This caused Stephen Jackson to rush into the stands in order to fight the fans that were handling Artest. Soon, Eddie Gill, David Harrison, Reggie Miller, Fred Jones, Jamal Tinsley, Rasheed Wallace, and numerous other personnel from each team were in the stands in an effort to break up the fight. Eventually, the players were forced back on to the court, just in time for Jermaine O'Neal to knockout multiple fans that had made their way there as well. The Pacers were pelted with food and drink by fans as they attempted to reach the locker room and one of the ugliest moments in sports history had ended.
The aftermath of the brawl left the NBA in an unprecedented institution. The league decided to suspend nine players that were involved for a total of 146 games. Ron Artest received an 86 game suspension, Stephen Jackson was out for 30 games, and Jermaine O'Neal was out for 15 games. These suspensions decimated the Pacer's roster for that season. In addition, to reprimanding the players that were involved, the NBA realized that changes had to be made in the way that fans attended games. Three months after the brawl, the league instituted new security policies across all NBA arenas. Among these included a size limit on alcoholic beverages (24 oz), a limit of two alcoholic beverages per fan, and the ban of alcohol sales after the third quarter. In addition, the security measures between the scores and media tables and the stands were solidified and the minimum amount of security guards at a game was increased. These new policies remain in place today and have changed the way that fans enjoy NBA games. The brawl between the Pistons and Pacers left a stain on the reputation of the NBA, and since, the league has gone to great lengths to ensure that something similar is not possible. It, more than any other event in NBA history, has changed the relationship between fans and teams.
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