The Knicks–Nuggets brawl was an on-court altercation at a
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
(NBA) game between the
New York Knicks
The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...
and
Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...
at
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...
in New York City on December 16, 2006. This altercation became the most penalized on-court fight in the NBA since the
Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...
–
Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...
brawl, otherwise known as the
Malice at the Palace, which occurred on November 19, 2004.
The fight began with a
flagrant foul by Knicks
guard
Guard or guards may refer to:
Professional occupations
* Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault
* Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street
* Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning
* Prison gu ...
Mardy Collins on Nuggets guard
J. R. Smith in the closing seconds of the game. Several players joined in the confrontation and began to make physical contact. The fight briefly spilled into the stands, and also stretched to the other end of the court. All ten players on the floor at the time were
ejected after the altercation was finished. When suspensions were announced, seven players were suspended without pay for a combined total of 47 games.
Although they were not penalized, Nuggets coach
George Karl
George Matthew Karl (born May 12, 1951) is an American former professional basketball coach and player. After spending five years as a player for the San Antonio Spurs, he became an assistant with the team before being appointed as a head coach ...
and Knicks coach
Isiah Thomas
Isiah Lord Thomas III ( ; born April 30, 1961), also known as "Zeke", is an American former professional basketball player who is head coach of the Saginaw Soul of the Basketball Super League, and also an analyst for NBA TV and Fox Sports. H ...
were both scrutinized for their part in the brawl, while Nuggets
forward Carmelo Anthony
Carmelo Kyam Anthony ( ; born May 29, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player. Anthony played 19 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and is a ten-time NBA All-Star Game, NBA All-Star and six-time All-NBA T ...
was criticized for harming his image as a star. Several writers said the NBA had penalized the players excessively because it wanted to keep its image free from violence.
Game recap
Entering the game, the
New York Knicks
The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...
had a record of 9–17 while the
Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...
sported a 13–9 record. Despite trailing the entire game, the Knicks came as close as two points in the first half, However, the Nuggets regrouped and closed the half with a 13-point advantage, and continued to lead in the second half by as much as 26 points in the third quarter. The Knicks briefly came within ten points with ten minutes left in the game, but the Nuggets went on a 12–2 run and were never threatened again.
Forward Carmelo Anthony
Carmelo Kyam Anthony ( ; born May 29, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player. Anthony played 19 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and is a ten-time NBA All-Star Game, NBA All-Star and six-time All-NBA T ...
scored 34 points to lead the Nuggets, and
center Marcus Camby
Marcus Dion Camby (born March 22, 1974) is an American former professional basketball player who played 17 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was named Defensive Player of the Year during the 2006–07 NBA season, leading ...
added 24 points and 9
rebounds;
Stephon Marbury
Stephon Xavier Marbury (born February 20, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player who was also the head coach for the Beijing Royal Fighters of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) from 2019–2023. After his freshman year ...
scored a season-high 31 points for the Knicks.
Altercation
The incident occurred with 1:15 remaining in the Knicks' home game at
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...
, where the Nuggets were leading 119–100. The Knicks'
Mardy Collins fouled the Nuggets'
J. R. Smith on a
fast break
Fast break is an offensive strategy in basketball and handball. In a fast break, a team attempts to move the ball up court and into scoring position as quickly as possible, so that the defense is outnumbered and does not have time to set up. The ...
by slapping his arms around Smith's neck, knocking him to the floor; Collins was immediately whistled for a
Flagrant 2 Foul by official
Dick Bavetta, meaning Collins was to be immediately
ejected. As Smith stood up to confront Collins,
Nate Robinson
Nathaniel Cornelius Robinson (born May 31, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player. Born in Seattle, Robinson played college basketball for the University of Washington in Seattle and was the 21st pick in the 2005 NBA draft. ...
pulled Smith away, and then began pushing and shouting at him.
David Lee tried to hold Smith back, but Smith broke free and charged into Robinson, causing both players to fall into the photographers and front row courtside seats before they were quickly separated by teammates.
As the fighting was seemingly coming to an end, Anthony confronted Collins and punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground.
Jared Jeffries immediately tried to attack Anthony but tripped over Camby before being restrained by coaches and teammates, while Anthony backed up towards the Nuggets' bench. Collins also ran down the court to get at Anthony but was blocked by
Nenê and Smith. All ten players on the court at the time of the incident were ejected by the officiating crew that consisted of Bavetta,
Violet Palmer
Violet Renice Palmer (born July 20, 1964) is a retired American basketball referee in the NBA and WNBA and the first female official to reach the highest competitive tier in any major U.S. professional sports league. She also earned recognition ...
, and
Robbie Robinson.
Linas Kleiza made one of two free throws off the initial flagrant foul by Collins, as Smith, who would have been the one to shoot the free throws after being the recipient of the foul, was among those ejected.
Reactions
Suspensions
NBA Commissioner
The commissioner of the NBA is the chief executive of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The current commissioner is Adam Silver, who succeeded David Stern on February 1, 2014.
List of NBA commissioners
Maurice Podoloff (1946–196 ...
David Stern
David Joel Stern (September 22, 1942 – January 1, 2020) was an American lawyer and business executive who was the commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1984 to 2014. Stern oversaw NBA basketball's growth into one of t ...
reacted with strict penalties for the players involved, stating, "It is our obligation to take the strongest possible steps to avoid such failures in the future". Seven players were suspended for a total of 47 games, and the players lost in excess of US$1.2 million in salary. Each team was also fined US$500,000.
Because Anthony's suspension was longer than twelve games, he was eligible to appeal to an
arbitrator; however, Anthony eventually announced he would not attempt one, saying he did not "want to be a further distraction".
Public reaction
Several sportswriters said the brawl was not as violent as the Pacers–Pistons brawl two years before,
and 81% of respondents in a
SportsNation poll said the biggest difference between the two brawls was that it "didn't involve players going into the stands and fighting fans". However,
MSNBC
MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...
's Michael Ventre said that the Knicks and Nuggets brawl was worse because "it was touched off by the actions of players, and it escalated because of them". Several writers said that the penalties were more severe because of the Pacers–Pistons brawl, because the NBA was on a "very serious image-cleanup campaign".
Steve Francis
Steven D'Shawn Francis (born February 21, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player. He was selected with the second overall pick of the 1999 NBA draft and was named co-NBA Rookie of the Year (along with Elton Brand) in his fi ...
claimed that the media reaction to the fight and the suspensions itself were "racially motivated", arguing that
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
and the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
had "incidents that are way worse than basketball" but did not face the scrutiny that the NBA received "because there are more black players in the NBA". This was echoed by several writers, and sportswriter-television personality
Michael Wilbon said that, "NBA players have endured more scrutiny, pertaining to image, than any other professional athletes in America".
Martin Luther King III called for a meeting to end the violence in the NBA, stating, "Individuals who play a game should be able to conduct themselves appropriately". However, the NBA said through a spokesman that they "don't think that meeting is necessary".
Coaches' role in the brawl
Minutes before the brawl started, Knicks coach
Isiah Thomas
Isiah Lord Thomas III ( ; born April 30, 1961), also known as "Zeke", is an American former professional basketball player who is head coach of the Saginaw Soul of the Basketball Super League, and also an analyst for NBA TV and Fox Sports. H ...
asked Anthony not to go into the painted area around the basket, despite the fact that they were not members of the same team. Thomas later said that because Nuggets head coach
George Karl
George Matthew Karl (born May 12, 1951) is an American former professional basketball coach and player. After spending five years as a player for the San Antonio Spurs, he became an assistant with the team before being appointed as a head coach ...
kept his team's
starting players on the court for the closing minutes of the game, which Thomas thought showed a lack of sportsmanship, his orders to Anthony were to "show some class". However, Karl responded by saying the brawl "was directed by Isiah".
Thomas was not penalized after the brawl, as an NBA investigation ruled that they did not have "adequate evidence upon which to make a determination", but several writers criticized the NBA for not including Thomas in the suspensions.
ESPN
ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
analyst
Marc Stein called Thomas' explanations of his comments "laughable", and commentator
Greg Anthony
Gregory Carlton Anthony (born November 15, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player who is a television analyst for NBA TV and Turner Sports. He played 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Anthony also co ...
, a former Knicks player, said he "never had a coach say that to an opponent". It was also suggested that Thomas was attempting to resurrect the physical tactics of his former team, the
"Bad Boy" Detroit Pistons.
In response to Thomas saying that keeping the Nuggets starters on the floor in the final minutes of the game was unsportsmanlike, Karl said that he "never thought about running up the score", and only wanted to "get a big win on the road".
However, several sportswriters criticized his decision, and some said that he should also have been penalized.
It was also suggested that Karl was trying to humiliate Thomas due to the perception that Thomas had mistreated
Larry Brown, a friend of Karl's.
Karl was also blamed for putting his players in a position to start a fight.
Carmelo Anthony
The day following the brawl, Anthony issued a statement and apology to his family, to the NBA, and to fans. He also specifically apologized to Mardy Collins, whom he directly struck during the incident. At the time of the brawl, Anthony was the league's leading scorer;
his suspension was also the longest of the players suspended, and the sixth-longest in NBA history. According to former NBA player
Steve Kerr
Stephen Douglas Kerr (born September 27, 1965) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the United States men's national ...
, Anthony had "tarnished" his image,
and basketball analyst
Ric Bucher said that Anthony had "torched his own career". ''
Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...
'' writer Marty Burns said that Anthony faced becoming known by sports fans across America as the player who punched Collins in the face and then ran away. An example of the backlash was
Northwest Airlines
Northwest Airlines (often abbreviated as NWA) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1926 until it Delta Air Lines–Northwest Airlines merger, merged with Delta Air Lines in 2010. The merger made Delta the largest airline ...
pulling Anthony from its in-flight magazine cover, as it said it did not want "to condone the behavior of Anthony". In 2019, Anthony said that the NBA was "making an example of
imat that point in time" because of the fallout from the Pacers–Pistons brawl.
Events after the brawl
A day after Anthony was suspended, Denver acquired
Allen Iverson
Allen Ezail Iverson ( ; born June 7, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "The Answer", he played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as both a shooting guard and point guard. As an NBA rook ...
, who was then second in the NBA in scoring behind Anthony. After Anthony and Smith returned from their suspensions, the trio led the Nuggets to 45 wins and the sixth seed in the
Western Conference for the
2007 playoffs.
However, they were eliminated in the first round by the
San Antonio Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...
. The Knicks finished 33–49, 12th in the
Eastern Conference, and did not make the playoffs.
The two teams faced each other for the first time since the altercation on November 17, 2007, which the Nuggets won 115–83. Opposing players
Renaldo Balkman and
Linas Kleiza began arguing with each other after Balkman was called for a hard foul on Kleiza, but the incident was defused after Balkman was given a
technical foul
In basketball, a technical foul (colloquially known as a "T" or a "tech") is any infraction of the rules penalized as a foul which does not involve physical contact during the course of play between opposing players on the court, or is a foul by a ...
. Iverson, Anthony, and Camby were all removed early in the fourth quarter. Balkman and Kleiza later became teammates after Balkman was
traded to the Nuggets in the 2008 off–season.
Box score
Sources
See also
*
Malice at the Palace
*
National Basketball Association criticisms and controversies
The National Basketball Association (NBA) has faced a multitude of criticisms from sports publications, fans, and its own players.
Racial and cultural issues
Since the late 1990s, the NBA has been criticized for embracing hip hop culture. Whi ...
*
Violence in sports
Violence is characterized as the use of physical force by humans to cause harm to other living beings, or property, such as pain, injury, disablement, death, damage and destruction. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines violence a ...
*
List of violent spectator incidents in sports
On a number of occasions throughout history, notable sporting participants have been involved in violent confrontations with spectators during a competition. This list includes events in which a spectator at a sporting event was engaged in such a c ...
*
Sparks–Shock brawl
*
2010 Acropolis Basketball Tournament brawl
*
2011 Crosstown Shootout brawl
*
Philippines–Australia basketball brawl
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knicks-Nuggets brawl
2006–07 NBA season
Brawls in team sports
NBA controversies
NBA games
New York Knicks games
Denver Nuggets games
December 2006 sports events in the United States
2006 in sports in New York (state)
Violence in sports
Nicknamed sporting events