Losing $3 Million to NBA Still Infuriates Stephen Jackson, Defends Violent Outburst With a Deep-Seated Grudge

If you watched one of the most talked about editions of Untold on Netflix, you’d know that the players at the heart of Malice at the Palace are still bitter about it. A good few of them believe they were unfairly punished. Stephen Jackson, the then-Indiana Pacers forward, still hasn’t gotten over it. He previously admitted he thought the 2004 brawl would end his NBA career. Instead, he was suspended for 30 games and fined $3 million. Now that the dust has settled, Jackson feels wronged.

While on The Dan LeBatard Show, Jackson rewound the tape to November 19, 2004, at the Palace in Michigan. He broke down the events related to him to justify why he didn’t deserve the harsh punishment. “I feel like I should get my money back if I was going in the stand to just throw punches,” he says while pointing at the screen.

When the most infamous brawl in NBA history broke out during the Pacers-Pistons game, with fans involved in the scuffle, nine players were suspended. Jackson with Metta Sandiford-Artest (then known as Ron Artest) got the most severe consequences. Jackson admitted he regretted what happened but questioned if the punishment was proportionate.

He maintains he was always trying to reach Artest. “It’s a 100 people that I jump past that I could have punched.” He didn’t hit anyone on the way but when someone threw beers at him and his teammates, he retaliated. Though he’s always asserted he regrets punching the fan, he is grateful to his teammates for de-escalating the situation from getting a lot worse.

Stephen Jackson is glad to give his side

Jackson said that spectators in the arena had grabbed his jersey but his teammates pulled him back. “I’m glad they grabbed me because I was going to hurt that dude,” he said. He said he was dangerously in “survival mode” because the public was grabbing him.

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According to Jackson, the public was assaulting the athletes and he was trying to protect his teammates. Hence, he felt the fine was unjustified. He further said he was the victim of an altercation that broke out at work in the arena and he was not brawling in a club to be fined.

He proceeded to call out the 2004 media coverage for making the players look bad. For that reason, he was glad the Pacers and Pistons’ sides were shown in Untold. Do you agree that Jackson’s punishment was unfairly harsh?

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