Basketball: Five Pacers hit with criminal charges for NBA brawl

Indiana Pacers guard Ron Artest arguing with referee Dan Crawford. Picture / Reuters

DETROIT - Five Indiana Pacers, including NBA All-Star Ron Artest, have been charged with assault and battery for their role in what authorities described as one of the worst brawls in US sports history.

Five Detroit Pistons fans were also charged in connection with the melee, which drew wide media scrutiny after it brought a Pacer-Pistons basketball game to an ugly end on Nov. 19.

Oakland County Prosecutor David Gorcyca said misdemeanor assault and battery charges were filed against Artest, the temperamental Pacers' forward, and teammates Jermaine O'Neal, David Harrison, Anthony Johnston and Stephen Jackson.

O'Neal was charged with two counts of assault and battery and the others were each charged with one, Gorcyca said.

The offense carries a maximum penalty of 93 days in jail and a fine of up to $500 (NZ$705) - a piddling compared to the players' million-dollar-plus multiyear contracts.

Gorcyca said four fans charged with misdemeanors in the case included John Green, who is accused of starting the brawl by throwing a cup at Artest, and David Wallace, a brother Pistons center Ben Wallace.

A fifth fan accused of throwing a chair into the crowd was charged with one count of felonious assault and one count of misdemeanor assault and battery.

It was after Artest was hit by the cup that he stormed into the stands and fought with spectators at the Palace of Auburn Hills outside Detroit, triggering widespread fighting that spilled on to the court.

Only minor injuries were reported in the slugfest. But NBA Commissioner David Stern, who called it "shocking, repulsive and inexcusable," has suspended Artest for the remainder of the 2004-05 season.

Stern also suspended Artest's teammates Jackson and O'Neal, for 30 and 25 games respectively.

Artest won the league's defensive player of the year award last season. The year before he led the NBA in suspensions.

- REUTERS