Top 20 Fights in NBA History

Let's be honest, although fighting in most sports is frowned upon and usually merits suspensions and large fines, it is very exciting. In basketball especially, fighting makes the game more exciting because it rarely happens. But when it does happen, and you have a melee of players as big as they are fighting one another the result is usually a good show. And in the history of the NBA, there have been more than a few good altercations between players that have resulted in exciting fights. So without further adieu, here are the top 20 fights in NBA history.

20. Kurt Rambis Gets Clotheslined by Kevin McHale

This goes to show you how different the NBA was in the 80's, there was just a foul called on that play and no more. If that happened today McHale would have been suspended and fined.

And regardless of how much of a cheap shot that was, that play did turn the tide of the 1984 Finals in the favor of the Celtics and helped them win the championship that year.

19. "The Punch"

I feel weird putting this in the top fights in NBA history because this should not be glorified. I mean Rudy Tomjanovich required serious surgery to fix his fractured skull and could have died. He did however fully recover from the incident and went on to have an impressive coaching career with the Rockets, where he won two championships and delivered this memorable speech.

18. Kobe Bryant-Chris Childs

It seems that Kobe was talking big game to Chris Childs and even threw a half-hearted elbow. But his attempts at intimidating Childs were to no avail, as Childs took the fight right to Kobe and landed at least one solid punch. Being a die hard Celtics fan, nothing makes me happier than watching Kobe in this fight.

17. Shawn Bradley

Bradley getting body slammed and the fight that ensues is one of my favorites. Bradley tries to intimidate Mark Davis with his height, but despite being a whole foot shorter, Davis doesn't back down and instead just picks Bradley up and slams him to the ground. It reminds me of when Rocky body slams Drago in Rocky IV. 

16. Larry Johnson-Alonzo Mourning

This fight was especially memorable for three reasons. One, it happened in a playoff game. Two, it happened after the game had ended. And three, Jeff Van Gundy getting trampled at the bottom of the pile.

But don't worry, this won't be the last time you see JVG on this list.

15. Kobe Bryant-Reggie Miller

Was the three unnecessary? Absolutely. Did Reggie need to fight him over it? Probably not.

Then again this is the same Pacers team that fought fans. So I guess this is tame in comparison.

14. Michael Jordan-Reggie Miller

And you thought Reggie Miller was bold for fighting Kobe Bryant. No star was too big for Reggie, and he messed with the biggest of them here.

Although it probably wasn't his brightest idea considering Jordan went on to score 40 points, grabbed nine rebounds, dished out eight assists, and had six steals. But then again, Jordan was probably going to do that anyways.

13. Larry Bird-Dr. J

Larry Bird was the king of trash talk, and at this point in the game Bird already had 42 points. He made it well known to Erving, who had only six and was clearly frustrated by it. But he certainly took out all of his frustration on Bird when two other teammates held him down while he threw punches at him.

12. Robert Parish-Bill Laimbeer

Bill Laimbeer got himself in more than a few fights in his NBA career, which was probably because no one liked him. Robert Parish did here what many players would love to have done and landed a few solid punches on him while fighting for a rebound.

The best part: not even a foul was called on Robert Parish on this play.

11. Marcus Camby-Danny Ferry

(I promised more JVG and you're going to get it, unfortunately it is not available on youtube. But you can watch a low quality and cut short video of it here!)

There is no faster way to get moved to the bench than punching your coach, accident or not. Oh wait, you could choke your coach like Latrell Sprewell, that would be a faster way to get moved to the bench.

10. Shaq-Brad Miller

I was never the biggest fan of Brad Miller, and apparently, neither was Shaq. Mostly unprovoked, he went right after Miller swinging wildly. Miller is lucky that Shaq failed to connect on any of his punches because if Shaq did hit him, well, let's just say Miller wouldn't exactly be jumping around with his shirt off after the fight.

9. Larry Bird-Bill Laimbeer

As a die hard Celtics fan, I can honestly say that this is one of my favorite things Larry Bird ever did. Every Celtics fan hated Bill Laimbeer, and so did Larry. He spoke of his hatred for Laimbeer in When the Game Was Ours and even refused to shake his hand before a game.

8. Suns-Knicks 1993

It's funny that two of the main instigators in this fight were Danny Ainge and Doc Rivers. I think they've settled their differences by now.

7. Shaq-Charles Barkley

With no clear winner in this fight, Shaq and Barkley settled their differences the only way men can: a few holes of horribly played golf on national television with the loser wearing a speedo to the beach. It should come to no surprise that Shaq ended up beating Sir Charles in golf and likely would have beat Barkley if they let the fight continue.

6. Warriors-Jail Blazers

Oddly enough, there is literally no video evidence of this fight despite how crazy of a fight it was. It happened after Rasheed Wallace hit a buzzer-beater jump shot to win the game. After that, Chris Mills and Bonzi Wells began shoving then Troy Murphy jumped in and threw punches. It escalated from there and eventually police had to help break it up. Also, Rasheed Wallace nearly rushed the stands to fight a fan that threw a beer at him but was restrained. Sound familiar?

5. Charles Barkley-Bill Laimbeer

We have already been over my feelings on Laimbeer and already seen Barkley in fight. So forget that whole fight that escalated between the Sixers and Pistons, and let's talk about Rick Mahorn.

His restraint when Isiah is throwing punches at him is unbelievable. Do you know how hard it must have been to just stand there while a hated instigator like Isiah Thomas was unnecessarily throwing punches at him? Even the most even keeled of people would have fought back, but Rick Mahorn didn't even blink. I'm impressed. 

4. Celtics-Rockets

This fight gets bonus points because it is the only fight that occurred in the NBA Finals. To be honest, Ralph Sampson had the right idea by going after the much smaller Jerry Sichting because there was no way he or his Rockets team could beat the greatest team ever in the 1986 Celtics in any other way.

And even so, I'm not sure the Rockets even won this fight. Bill Walton's take-down of Sampson turned the tides of the fight in the Celtics favor. Regardless of who won the fight, a couple days later the Celtics won their 16th championship and the Rockets went home empty-handed.  

3. Bulls-Knicks Brawl

Yet again, emotions spilling over in a playoff game and a brawl ensues. The best part about this fight? The fight spilling into the first couple rows of the stand and landing right in front of commissioner David Stern.

JoJo English, one game suspension, Derek Harper, two game suspension, the look on David Stern's face, priceless.  

2. Knicks-Nuggets Brawl

Carmelo Anthony landed one of the most solid punches in this fight, then ran away about as fast as David Stern could hand out a 15-game suspension. It's ironic because five years after he played a major role in a brawl against the New York Knicks, he is a New York Knick.

If a team is ever looking for an extra advantage, they should just play the clip of Melo's punch on the jumbotron. I wonder how many rebounds Jared Jeffries would get or how much Carmelo would touch the ball after they played that clip.  

1. Malice at the Palace

This was without a doubt one of the biggest moments in sports of the last decade. After it happened, everyone and their mothers were talking about it for weeks. It was absolutely unfathomable. Never before had anyone seen a brawl quite like it in sports.

But looking back, we probably should have seen something coming. I mean, the two teams were fresh off a heated playoff series between them. The Pacers had Ron Artest, err, I mean Metta Worldpeace, Stephen Jackson, and Jermaine O'Neal, and the Pistons had Rasheed Wallace and Ben Wallace. Mix that with a rowdy crowd of Detroit fans and you have a recipe for disaster. We will never see anything like that again in the NBA.