The “Malice at the Palace” is known as one of the NBA‘s most disturbing sequences ever, as it saw an infamous Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers’ brawl spill into the stands. During the fracas on Nov. 19, 2004, two key players – Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson – were filmed fighting fans with closed fists and suffered heavy suspensions for their roles in the melee.
Another much less publicized brawl that pit the WNBA‘s Los Angeles Sparks against the Detroit Shock, occurred four years later on July 21, 2008. A much more contained skirmish, this one remained on the court and Lisa Leslie, a 2-time champion and 3-time MVP recounted the event on an episode of “Uncensored” that airs on Sunday, May 2 at 10 PM EST.
“Candace has always had a soft spot in my heart and she was the baby to me,” Leslie remembers. “All I remember seeing is us running down court and Candice, when I looked over, she was in a tussle with one of the Detroit players and she was on the bottom. That’s what I saw. That’s my teammate and I was on my way to get whomever off her to get her off the floor.
At that point, Leslie remembers being confronted physically by the Shock’s head coach, Rick Mahorn, who was coincidentally a member of the ’90s Detroit Pistons Bad Boys teams that wreaked havoc on all comers in their heyday.
“Somehow in the moment of like, running one way and then in the direction and me turning around, I never saw the coach, Rick Mahorn, who is what, 6’6″, 6’7”? He pushed me, literally pushed me so hard that I was off both my feet and I landed somewhere back from where I was starting from the run.
“Why would this man put his hands on me? I will never understand that day. Why I didn’t have a lawsuit against the WNBA and him personally? I have no idea why I listened to other people. Because it was just simply wrong.”
Check out the clip of Leslie recounting the incident after the jump.
