NBA suspends Artest for remainder of season

"It was unanimous, one to zero," said NBA Commissioner David Stern about the decision. "It was my decision and I decided it."

Stern also announced suspensions to eight other players for their parts in the melee that started on the court and eventually found its way into the seats and included the fans at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

Artest’s teammate, Stephen Jackson, received a 30-game suspension, while Indiana’s Jermaine O’Neal will be forced to miss 25 games. Indiana will also lose Anthony Johnson for five games.

Detroit suffered it biggest loss with a six-game suspension to Ben Wallace, whose two-handed shove to Artest’s face instigated the fracas.

Four other players received a one-game penalty for leaving the bench during an on-court altercation. This list includes Indiana’s Reggie Miller, and Detroit’s Elden Campbell, Chauncey Billups and Derrick Coleman.

"The actions of the players involved wildly exceeded the professionalism and self-control that should fairly be expected from NBA players," said Stern.

All together, nine players were suspended for a total of 143 games.

The suspensions will be without pay and they are not expected to be staggered.

Indiana defeated Detroit 97-82 in a game that was stopped late in the fourth quarter due to the fight.

The Pacers led a seemingly calm game by 15 points with 45 seconds left and then things unraveled. Wallace was fouled by Artest and the Pistons center took exception to what he deemed a hard foul and gave Artest a two-handed push to the face.

After that, the fighting continued by the scorers’ table as players came off both benches to continue the melee on the court. The Detroit fans then lost all control and began throwing cups filled with liquid and ice at Artest, who was surprisingly staying out of harm’s way on top of the scorer’s table. Artest was hit in the head with a flying cup and immediately raced into the stands where he started punching whom he thought was the culprit.

Jackson followed into the crowd, along with several Pacer players, and started swinging away at the unruly fans.

"Mr. Jackson was well into the stands and he certainly wasn’t going in as a peacemaker," said Stern.

O’Neal was also involved in a fight on his way to the locker room. O’Neal apparently knocked a fan out cold after being hit with a foreign object and charges might be pressed on the All-Star.

After security tried to get the players out of the crowd, the game was called with 45 seconds remaining. However, the fighting was not over as Detroit fans continued to pelt the Pacers as the players were being escorted into the locker room. The players and coaches were finally able to make it into the tunnel, but not before all tempers were lost.

"We are in touch with all 29 arenas to make sure that they have adequate security in place," added Stern.

This was the first game between these two teams since last year’s Eastern Conference championship. The Pistons won last year’s series 4-2 before eventually winning the NBA title.

Indiana will next visit Motown on March 25 and hosts the Pistons on Christmas Day.