Josh Jackson was there … and threw a bottle

Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson, Jermaine O’Neal and the vast majority of the actors of the infamous “Malice at the Palace” are retired, but the subject is still talked about, as evidenced by the new documentary that has just been released on Netflix on the subject. He also remains a privileged witness to the most famous fight in the history of sport still active in the NBA. Josh Jackson, the Detroit Pistons player, was in the stands at Auburn Hills Palace on November 19, 2004.

Jackson was 8 years old and the heart of the action, the young Pistons fan. That’s what he told Marc J. Spears from The Undefeated.

“I was sitting halfway up, about 20 rows from the field. I remember seeing all these people fighting everywhere. I can see Jermaine O’Neal receiving a chair on him. He’s one. of my clearest memories.

I also remember Ron Artest lying on the scorer’s table and someone throwing a drink at him. Everyone around me was throwing something on the ground. I will not lie. I threw away a water bottle.

Why ? Because it was my team. I’m a Pistons fan. The Pacers sent punches to my favorite players. I couldn’t sit there and do nothing … “

Stephen Jackson, his crazy story of the shooting in Indiana in 2006

If he was born in California where his mother, a member of the US Navy worked, Josh Jackson and his family quickly moved to Michigan. It was there that he developed his passion for Detroit and lived up close one of the best periods in franchise history with the title gleaned in 2004 and a play in the Finals against Spurs the following season.

We imagine that the first time he walked the floor of the Palace of Auburn Hills, the n ° 4 of the 2017 Draft must have felt a rather incredible emotion. Unfortunately, the Pistons have moved and now play at Little Caesars Arena. The Palace was recently destroyed, taking with it memories of the Bad Boys or the 2004 title.

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