ABSTRACT
On November 19, 2004, the Detroit Pistons played the Indiana Pacers at home in a regular season game of the National Basketball Association (NBA). As a result of ‘dysregulated emotions’, this game has been described as one of the most infamous games in the history of the NBA. Following an altercation with a Detroit Pistons player, Indiana Pacer, Ron Artest, became outraged when he was struck in the face by a full beverage cup thrown from the crowd. Artest, joined by a team-mate, stormed into the stands and physically attacked several Detroit fans. Desperately, the Pacers’ coach and players from both teams tried to intervene. However, after returning to the court, Artest and team-mates continued to battle with fans until being escorted to the locker room by security. The game was ended with 45.9 seconds left to play. Artest was suspended for the rest of the season (i.e. 85 games); several of his team-mates also served multi-game suspensions (Montieth, 2004).
