Top 10 Fights in the NBA

10. Knicks and Spurs, 2001

Marcus Camby smashed a massive right into Danny Ferry after the two got into a bit of a pushing match. Unfortunately, Spurs’ coach Jeff Van Gundy tried to intervene and got smacked in the face. The peacemaker got broken into pieces.

09. Knicks and Bulls, 1994

NBA Commissioner David Stern watched in horror as the Knicks & Bulls went at each other right in front of his eyes. The players fought like children and smashed into the front row, taking a few in the crowd with them.

08. Suns and Lakers, 1999

Charles Barkley threw the ball at the head of, none-other than, Shaquille O’Neal. An on-rushing O’Neal is not a pleasant sight and Barkley & the big man tried to slug it out amidst the crowd. Players and officials stopped them before anything serious could go down.

07. Mavs and Cavs

The fight broke out on court and suddenly, crowds were greeted to the site of Mark Cuban, owner of the Mavericks, rushing out into the fight. It was almost as if enlightenment hit Cuban just before he got into the melee. Cuban stopped short after suddenly realizing his lack of height and fighting ability amidst a court of well trained athletes who stood a few feet above him. Realizing that he was without his private jet, decided that punching these giants in their faces would be too much to ask of him. The fight probably stopped because everyone turned to Cuban and laughed.

06. Knicks and Celtics, 1989

Charles Oakley probably had more fights than points in his rookie season. He got into a fight with Xavier McDaniels and while both players traded enough blows, the air around them was more seriously injured than either player. Clearly, boxing was never their strong point, hence the foray into basketball.

05. Lakers and Bulls, 2002

Oakley makes a second appearance as he fouled on Shaquille O’Neal. O’Neal got mad, didn’t know who the perpetrator was and swung wildly at just about anyone in a Bulls jersey standing near him. Luckily, no one got hurt!

04. Lakers and Rockets, 1977

There was an argument between Kermit Washington and Rudy Tomjanovich. Just when it seemed that everything would be fine and people would go home happy, something happened that made people happier. Kermit punched Rudy in the face!

03. Knicks and Heat, 1998

Van Gundy makes the list a second time although this time, he didn’t get punched. Alonzo Mourning got into a punch up and Van Gundy made it his life’s duty to stop his centre from getting into a punch-up. Five seconds later, a huge crowd of players had gathered around Mourning and Van Gundy, somewhere in the middle, hung on to Mourning’s leg for dear life. As Mourning walked around on court with an unwanted accessory, Van Gundy’s mom even couldn’t help but laugh at her son’s exploits.

02. Celtics and Pistons, 1987

The fight began when Laimbeer took Larry Bird down on the court. Bird threw some punches but nothing seemed to happen, until the two got separated. Bird had the ball in hand and threw it straight at Laimbeer’s head, restarting the entire brawl. What had seemingly stopped, ended up becoming one of the greatest fights in the NBA.

01. Pacers and Pistons, 2004

A drink was thrown at Ron Artest, so he decided to throw a punch – not the drinking kinds though! Players went into the stands and exchanged blows with the fans. Seats got torn out, faces got smashed in and at the front of it all was Ron Artest. The fight was unprecedented in the NBA and frankly, so was the punishment awarded to the players.