Basketbrawl: A Quick History of NBA Fights

Anybody who plays basketball knows that things can get heated on the court. Rough play and trash talk can both lead to tempers boiling over, and if things don't get calmed down quickly hands WILL be thrown.

The NBA is no different, and in light of last week's fights, its time to go thru some of the most memorable fights in NBA history. These fights have became iconic in basketball history, and have impacted pop culture and NBA rules.

Kermit Washington breaks Rudy Tomjanovic's face

The 1970s were a time full of cocaine, disco music, and more cocaine. But when the American Basketball Association merged with the National Basketball Association in 1976, the stage was set for the NBA to flourish.

Basketball back then was a different animal in terms of physicality. And before the 3-point line was added in 1979, players crowding near the basket. The combination of these two factors resulted in arguably the single most destructive punch in sports history.

On December 9, 1977, the Los Angeles Lakers were playing a game at home against the Houston Rockets. NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Rocket center Kevin Kunnert got a little frisky while going for a rebound. Kareem's teammate Kermit Washington was overseeing the scuffle until Kunnert turned his attention towards him. 

Another scufffle occured, and at that point Rocket forward Rudy Tomjanovic ran over to help break up the fight. Seeing Tomjanovic approach him, Washington did what any rational person would do in his situation:

Just kidding.

To keep it simple, the punch almost killed Tomjanovic. On top of the nose, skull, and jaw fractures Washington gave him, spinal fluid started leaking from his brain. His skull was fractured in such a way that Tomjanovic could taste the fluid leaking from his brain into his mouth.

After Tomjanovic got up from the bloody heap that he was in, he was rushed to the emergency room for reconstructive surgery. One of the surgeons who put his face back together compared the operation to "putting a cracked egg back together with Scotch Tape."

After a lengthy recovery time, and a successful lawsuit against the Lakers themselves, Tomjanovic played a couple more years before retiring. Ironically, he became the Lakers head coach for half of the 2004 season, and now he works as a scout for the team.

Washington played into the late 80's, and now he runs a charity that goes towards helping African children, which he has been caught stealing from twice.

Fights today may have more meme power, but none was as destructive as Kermit's punch.

Mike & Reggie get frisky in Indianapolis

Michael Jordan and Reggie Miller were two of the NBA's fiercest competitors in the 1990's. Mike's fire & Reggie's mouth made for some iconic moments, including a classic 7-game 1998 Eastern Conference Finals matchup. But 5 years before that, the two's tempers boiled over, leading to a violent basketball tango.

On February 10, 1993, Jordan's Chicago Bulls were playing against Miller's Indiana Pacers at Indiana's Market Square Arena. Being a regular season game, there wasn't anything at stake that could have increased tensions in the building.

The action occurred in the beginning of the game, with the Pacers jumping  out to a 20-14 lead mid-way through the first quarter. Jordan, being guarded by Miller, received the ball on the right wing after a made Pacer basket, and passed it up top to Scottie Pippen. 

Jordan moved towards the paint as Pippen drove towards the baseline, and stuck his arm out at Miller to ward him off. Reggie took exception and slapped MJ's arm away, and His Airness retaliated with an elbow to Miller's chin with the strength of 20,000 of his child sweatshop workers.

After Pippen fumbled away the ball (like his relationship with Larsa), Pooh Richardson caught the outlet pass and sprinted to the basket with a herd of Bulls defending him, and missed the layup. In one fell swoop, the trailing Miller flew in, tipped the ball back into the basket, and shoved Jordan with his momentum.

Fans and players alike knew MJ was vicious on the court. But this time Jordan was on some zombie shit, and tried to grab Miller's face in most likely an attempt to eat his flesh. When Air Zombie realized he couldn't get to Reggie's brains he started swinging, and the two landed multiple punches on each other before being broken up by their teammates.

Michael Jordan and Reggie Miller both went on to have legendary careers. They didn't have any more incidents after this fight, and Reggie has made his respect for MJ known. 

Miller now provides subpar commentary on TNT, and Jordan provides subpar ownership of the Bulls. It's a sharp contrast to how entertaining they were on the court.

Metta World Peace becomes Metta World Violence

Ron Artest has had a violent, borderline dirty reputation throughout his playing career. As a member of the Indiana Pacers, he was the player who began punching fans in the Malice In the Palace. 

He appeared to have a change of heart when he decided to change his name to Metta World Peace in 2011, doing it to "inspire and bring youth together all around the world." But the very next season he showed us that he still had a little bit of Ron in his heart.

On April 22, 2012, MWP's Lakers were playing a game at home against the Oklahoma City Thunder. After thief extraordinaire Andrew Bynum blocked a Russell Westbrook shot, MWP rumbled down court and shed a defender before finishing with a powerful dunk. After the basket he started to celebrate in flamboyant MWP fashion by beating his chest like a majestic silverback gorilla.

But once he collided with a unsuspecting James Harden, Ron broke out of his Peace-ful shell one last time. 

The elbow sent Harden straight to the ground, where he was writhing in pain for a few minutes. As Harden's teammates came to confront MWP about the elbow, he immediately got into a fighting stance as if he knew what he did was intentional. But right after tempers died down, he tried to plead  to the referees that the elbow swing was accidental, and part of his chest beating celebration.

Harden left the game and was diagnosed with a concussion, missing the last 2 games of the regular season, but managed to return for the start of their eventual Finals run. The Thunder and Lakers met again in the second round of the playoffs, and MWP affectionately rubbed Harden's head on his way to losing the series in 5 games.

Metta World Peace has denied any malice being involved in the incident. He insists that Harden flopped, and has blamed The Beard for "being in the way." But the film tells a different, non-Peaceful story of the situation.

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Ever since Kermit Washington nearly killed Rudy Tomjanovic, the NBA has made protecting its players a priority. But as you can see above, they can't prevent all fights from happening. The most entertaining fights that still occur pale in comparison to the fights of seasons past.