Malice at the Palace documentary: Another View

The Detroit Pistons are back in the national discussion, but not because they drafted Cade Cunningham. The streaming service Netflix has put up a new documentary on one of the more infamous incidents in team history: the ‘Malice at the Palace’

The doc has certainly stirred up old memories. I was asked to be on a 76ers podcast, to discuss it.

For those who don’t know, or were not around back then, this is what happened, in a nutshell:

In a November, 2004 game between Detroit and Indiana, with the game well in hand for the Pacers, Ron Artest gave a hard foul to the Pistons’ Ben Wallace, who did not appreciate it. Tensions escalated when Artest had a cup of beer thrown on him from a fan and he, joined by several teammates, went into the stands to attack fans.

The fact the game, between the two teams that met in the Eastern Conference finals the year before (which Detroit won in six), was nationally televised on ESPN, which blew up the incident event more.

There were suspensions (Wallace was the only Piston disciplined, and he got just a six-game suspension), spectators banned from the arena for life and some minor criminal convictions (only the guy who threw the cup got jail time). You can go here, for a full recap.

So how did the Netflix documentary handle ‘Malice at the Palace’? How did it portray Detroit Pistons fans and players?

The first thing you should know is, one of the Pacers involved in the melee, Jermaine O’Neal, is also an executive producer. Most of the documentary is about the how it affected the Indiana team, and the players involved.

The only Detroit player interviewed was Wallace, who came off very well. But basically the team was ignored.

There were a number of things that were glossed over that I found interesting, and enlightening. If you did not catch it quickly, they could have been forgotten, due to the main focus being on the Pacers players.

• There was a lot of ‘woe is us’,  the crux that the Pacers would have won the championship that year, if not for all the players suspensions. The small fact that Detroit went on to play Indiana that year in the second round of the playoffs, with the Pacers having everyone back by that time except Artest, and the Pistons beat them 4-2, just like the year before, is ignored.
• There was a lot about the mental problems Artest was having in the weeks leading up to the incident. He even says he was looking for a way to stop playing. New player Stephen Jackson, who was highly emotional, made the situation even more volatile. When Pacers general manager Donnie Walsh was asked why he didn’t do anything about it, he responded, with a bit of a shrug, “I thought we could win it that year.”

Which is the mindset of many, not just basketball, but most pro sports GMs. We are here to win and if the player is being a pain in the neck, but he helps us win, just suck it up. A lot of players, who have legitimate issues, get their problems shoved aside, so the team can win.

Later in their careers, Artest (now known as Metta World Peace) and Jackson would each be on NBA championship teams. Lesson? Yeah, talent wins out over everything.