Five tears of infamy

1. The Malice at The Palace

] Without doubt the most infamous basket of all time and widely regarded as the darkest day in the history of the NBA. When the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers regained consciousness in November 2004, a few months after the Pistons defeated the Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals, few could have predicted what would happen at the Palace of Auburn Hills, Michigan. At less than one minute of the match, Detroit's Ben Wallace was offended by a foul from American Ron Artest (now known as Metta World Peace), with the two teams being separated by members of their respective teams

. Nuggets vs Knicks 2006

This one also started with a stern fault, and probably an even harder mistake than that applied by Artest to Wallace. One minute before the end of the match, Denver's R. R. Smith headed for the bucket before Mardy Collins of New York stole Smith dangerously. Smith faced Collins, leading Collins' team-mate Nate Robinson to get involved and eventually fight with Smith. But just as things seemed to be alleviating, Carmelo Anthony of Denver hit Collins and knocked him down

Anthony then ran to the Nuggets bench with many Collins teammates chasing him but unable to catch him. The ugly scenes led to the ejection of 10 players in the field. The Denver Anthony (15), Smith (10) and Nene (one) players have all been suspended, as well as New Yorkers Robinson (10), Collins (six), Jared Jeffries (four) and Jerome James. (a). 3. Larry Johnson v Alonzo Mourning

Things got a bit of less important in the 1998 Eastern Conference playoff match four, when Johnson and Mourning were beaten by the second. The incident is perhaps best known for the comic sight of Jeff Van Gundy, a coach of the pint-sized Knicks, hanging on Mourning's leg in a desperate attempt to break the fight.

The Crosstown Punch-Out

College basketball is also capable of producing wild scenes like Cincinnati and Xavier's proved in December 2011. With 9.4 seconds to play in the game and Xavier comfortably ahead 76-53, a huge fight breaks out with the two benches in ugly scenes. Many punches were thrown, but the most important was that of Yancy Gates of Cincinnati who landed on Kenny Frease's face, opening a wide slash under Frease's left eye and reaching him. on the ground.

Laimbeer v Barkley

In April 1990, Charles Barkley and Bill Laimbeer turned the meeting between their respective sides Philadelphia and Detroit into a memorable contest for all the wrong reasons. While remaining 14 seconds in the last quarter, Barkley responded to Laimbeer by pushing the ball against 76ers teammate Rick Mahorn, physically facing the great Detroit man. This caused Barkley and Laimbeer to punch and fight. Laimbeer emerged from the fray with a black left eye. But just as things seemed to be simmering, incredibly, he poured into the crowd with Barkley confronting some Detroit fans in burlesque scenes. Surprisingly, the lead instigators have only received bans from a game.