Second, the fans started the actual mayhem. Artest was calming down when a fan threw a beer on him. Have you ever had a beer thrown on you? Wouldn’t you want to punch that person? Artest did. Boy did he ever. Like hard punches. He actually punched the wrong person at first, which is really bad, but also really funny.
Jackson, for his part, is pretty sensitive to seeing one guy take on multiple people. His older brother/best friend was beaten to death in a dirty three-on-one fight in which two guys jumped him from the back and cracked a bottle over his skull. Jackson, understandably flashing back to that trauma, saw “one teammate against hundreds.” So he ran into the stands and started throwing wilder punches than Artest. All he wanted to do was protect his teammate, which is perfectly reasonable. Wouldn’t you go protect your friend? Jackson even claims he was going one row above Artest to try to grab him, but right at that moment, another fan threw another beer in Artest’s face. That guy deserved a punch, he got it, and punching a fan is kinda like Pringles: once you pop, you keep popping people.
Then what about the drunk bros who rushed the court and squared up? Why do Artest and Jackson have violent reputations but we don’t know those assholes’ names? Those fans do not get enough credit for being completely horrible that night. Also, what kind of idiot is so high on their own supply that they think they, after a night of beer, popcorn, and sitting, can take a 6’8″, 250-pound professional athlete in a fight? I’m not trying to say anyone (except Nazis) deserves to be punched, but sometimes you earn things.
Lastly, “hothead” reputations unfairly followed Artest and Jackson for their careers. That’s shameful framing from the press. Sure, both guys are dudes who are a little on the odd side—Artest signed his first million-dollar contract and immediately applied to work at Circuit City so he could get an employee discount—but it shows just how poorly sportswriters understand mental health issues. It was a wild, nobody-is-thinking-straight incident, and the story was “these two violent dudes attacked a crowd.” Artest couldn’t process what had happened in real time, even asking teammates afterwards “do you think we’re going to get in trouble?” It was the end of a tough game between developing rivals, a really high-pressure situation. That thrown beer would make anyone snap, but especially someone who already makes his living as a “tough guy” and is absolutely gassed up on adrenaline after an intense game.
“Well, it’s that or Pringles, so … ”
Artest would go on to be a vocal advocate for better mental health services for players, becoming the first person to thank their psychiatrist during a championship celebration. He helped open the conversation about mental health in the NBA community, and that should be lauded. Sure, punching fans isn’t like, a thing you should do, but I’m going on record saying the man who once called himself “The Panda’s Friend” when he signed with a team in Sichuan and the man who said “it felt good to punch a fan one time” were net positives on the NBA.
Chris Corlew is an advocate for everyone chilling out, being cool, and enjoying the sports game. Also kneeling during the national anthem. He has a Twitter, a podcast, and a music.
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