Ex-Pistons Star Almost Avoided NBA’s Biggest Brawl Due to Personal Tragedy, Reveals Stephen Jackson

When Stephen Jackson joined Dwight Howard on an episode of Above The Rim with DH 12 show, no one expected the conversation to go from basketball memories to one of the most infamous events in NBA history. As they shared laughs and looked back on their careers, Dwight suddenly brought up a question that many fans still wonder about. “Why is it that teams did not want you to be on the team?” Dwight asked. “Like I didn’t understand it.” That one question opened the door to a moment Jackson clearly hasn’t moved on from.

Stephen Jackson didn’t hesitate. “Well, you know, it was the whole Indiana situation—so definitely the brawl,” he said. “I mean, they don’t want teammates that loyal,” He explained that Malice in the Palace wasn’t just a moment of chaos. It was something that reshaped how he was seen in the league. But right in the middle of his story, Stephen Jackson shared a piece of information that caught Dwight and probably every viewer off guard.

“Shout out to Ben Wallace,” Stephen Jackson said suddenly. “Ben Wallace didn’t almost play that day because he had lost a family member.” That’s right. Wallace, the same player who would end up shoving Ron Artest and igniting the brawl, had nearly skipped the game due to a death in his family. Jackson added, “But he showed up anyway.” It’s wild to think how different things might’ve gone if Wallace hadn’t played. That emotional decision to turn up on court may have been the turning point. So what happened that night?

The Pacers were dominating that night. “This is our first game of the season,” Stephen Jackson explained. “Detroit, like I said, was defending champion… and they know it was our year.” He added, “We blowing them out.” As emotions ran high, a hard foul turned into a shove, a shove led to a drink being thrown, and the rest is history. “If I was just on some dumb s**t, I ran five rows up and didn’t touch nobody, bro,” Jackson said. “If I was on that, I could’ve hit somebody first five rows.” Instead, he claimed, “Another beer was thrown in his face and that’s the dude I hit.”

He further made it clear: “I wasn’t on no slot. As a kid, they teach you that—one fight, we all fight.” That was his mindset. He didn’t see it as an attack, but as standing by his teammates. “If I’m with y’all anywhere else, y’all would expect me to do the same,” Stephen Jackson told Dwight. Jackson’s team’s play on the field that day put him against some tough punishment along with the Pistons’ Ben Wallace.

Basketball Punishments faced by Ben Wallace and Stephen Jackson

The fallout was swift and harsh. Stephen Jackson was suspended for 30 games and fined $3 million. “I feel like I should get my money back,” Jackson said on The Dan LeBatard Show. “If I was going in the stands just to throw punches, then yeah, fine me. But that wasn’t what it was.”

He defended his actions, again and again. “That was the only incident I had in my NBA career,” he said. “I never been in a fight in an NBA game before that.” He wanted to protect Ron Artest and responded when he saw another beer being thrown. “I did what any real teammate would do.”

Meanwhile, Ben Wallace, who shoved Artest and started the chain of events, was given a six-game suspension. Jackson never blamed Wallace, but the contrast in punishments always raised questions. “It’s crazy,” Stephen Jackson said. “They judged me like I was wildin’ out, but I was just trying to hold my guy down.” And even now, the memory sticks with him.

“I regret the punch, not the reason I threw it,” he once said. He sees loyalty as his strength, even if it comes at a cost. And had Ben Wallace not played that night, maybe none of this would have happened. But he did—and history had other plans.