NBA commissioner David Stern admitted in a Wednesday Associated Press story that the involvement of the basketball player formerly known as Ron Artest in the infamous brawl quickly dubbed "Malice at The Palace" played a role in the former's seven-game suspension meted out Tuesday night.
It seemed for a few years, though, newly-named Metta World Peace was going to put his rep behind him. That was until he launched a blatant elbow to the head of Oklahoma City's James Hardin. It seems "Malice" will likely follow World Peace to his (its?) grave.



It seems like "Malice" would automatically qualify as the worst NBA brawl of all-time. Not so according to a recent Associated Press rundown of the worst fights, which puts the Nov. 2004 Donnybrook at No. 2.
What's more astonishing is the fact not a single fight involving the late 1980s Bad Boy Pistons teams were mentioned in the list. No fights with the Celtics, Bulls or Sir Charles.
Maybe it was just too difficult to pick from all the fights, but what Artest did Sunday wouldn't make a Detroit Piston from the late 80s flinch. Yet World Peace's elbow is ranked No. 4. 
With the exception of the list's top fracas, "Kermit Washington vs. Rudy Tomjanovich," the rundown skews very modern. In fact, it lists just one other fight from the NBA's Wild 80s: "Kurt Rambis vs. Kevin McHale."
I highly doubt World Peace's infraction will be remembered in history higher than the shenanigans of the Pistons, so I leave you with this.