http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/11508536p-12420125c.html
Violent outburst weighs on the Kings
A night of utter madness
By Martin McNeal -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Sunday, November 21, 2004
Back in the day, there was no big thing about a fight on the court, Kings coach Rick Adelman said.
"When I played, we had fights all the time," said Adelman, who played from 1968 to 1975 with the San Diego Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers, Chicago Bulls, Kansas City-Omaha Kings and New Orleans Jazz.
"I saw (New York's) Willis Reed wipe out the whole Lakers bench," Adelman said. "I saw (Baltimore's) Gus Johnson just destroy a whole Seattle team and slap a few people on press row that tried to say something to him. There was no one who was going to stop him. The only one that could stop him that night was (teammate) Wes Unseld from behind.
"I've seen situations, but I've never seen it escalate like it did (Friday night at Detroit)."
As the Kings, winners of four straight and five of their last six games, prepared to face the Milwaukee Bucks tonight at Arco Arena, the melee at the Indiana-Detroit game was still on the minds of many Saturday.
Kings guard Mike Bibby had a unique perspective. He said he knows virtually all of the combatants and is especially tight with Pacers guard Stephen Jackson, his former Vancouver Grizzlies teammate.
"I'm friends with all of those guys, and Steve stayed with my mom for a year," Bibby said. "I'd rather not say anything, but I know Steve, and it's crazy to see him like that. I mean, he's protecting. ... The team is like your family. Some people might be more with them than they are with their family.
"And you want to protect them and make sure they are OK. Like if somebody swung on one of our players or coaches, it would probably be the same for us."
Kings forward Chris Webber, a Detroit native, had to absorb a little kidding from reporters before answering questions, even if Auburn Hills is 30 miles from downtown.
"I saw the tape of it," Webber said. "I just don't have any comment on it. That was wild."
Asked if seeing that madness at the Palace reminded him of any similar situations playing ball while growing up, Webber said, "I don't want to talk about it too much, but I've seen stuff like that before. I've definitely been part of that before."
Webber said those tagging the ridiculous behavior of the Palace's fans with the Detroit area are off base.
"I don't know," he said. "I've seen some crazy stuff in baseball, and I've seen some crazy stuff in hockey. I think it's just people."
Asked if he felt safe in arenas around the NBA, Webber said, "I think (player safety) was an issue before (Friday night)." Then he retreated again, saying, "I really don't want to talk about it. I don't want to be the poster child on this."
Bringing an overseas view, Kings forward Darius Songaila, who grew up in Lithuania before attending prep school and college in the United States, said he had witnessed violence in another sport.
"I've seen soccer fights before," Songaila said. "Soccer fights get brutal. People die in soccer fights, but this is the worst I've ever seen in the NBA."
Alexander cut - The Kings on Saturday waived Courtney Alexander after concluding they didn't know what the oft-injured swingman could bring.
Alexander never could get healthy enough to show the Kings what he could do. He missed most of training camp because of a strained left thigh, then went on the injured list to start the season with a sore left foot.
"(President of basketball operations) Geoff (Petrie) and I have been talking about it for a couple of weeks trying to figure out what we could do," Adelman said. "(Alexander) practiced once last week, and he hasn't been on the floor since. We just felt (starting shooting guard) Doug (Christie) is healthy again, and (Alexander) is just so far behind us now, we didn't know when he was going to be able to practice, so it was best to part ways now.
"I feel sorry for him because he hasn't had any real chance to play with any consistency at all."
The Bee's Martin McNeal can be reached at [email="mmcneal@sacbee.com"]mmcneal@sacbee.com[/email]
Violent outburst weighs on the Kings
A night of utter madness
By Martin McNeal -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Sunday, November 21, 2004
Back in the day, there was no big thing about a fight on the court, Kings coach Rick Adelman said.
"When I played, we had fights all the time," said Adelman, who played from 1968 to 1975 with the San Diego Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers, Chicago Bulls, Kansas City-Omaha Kings and New Orleans Jazz.
"I saw (New York's) Willis Reed wipe out the whole Lakers bench," Adelman said. "I saw (Baltimore's) Gus Johnson just destroy a whole Seattle team and slap a few people on press row that tried to say something to him. There was no one who was going to stop him. The only one that could stop him that night was (teammate) Wes Unseld from behind.
"I've seen situations, but I've never seen it escalate like it did (Friday night at Detroit)."
As the Kings, winners of four straight and five of their last six games, prepared to face the Milwaukee Bucks tonight at Arco Arena, the melee at the Indiana-Detroit game was still on the minds of many Saturday.
Kings guard Mike Bibby had a unique perspective. He said he knows virtually all of the combatants and is especially tight with Pacers guard Stephen Jackson, his former Vancouver Grizzlies teammate.
"I'm friends with all of those guys, and Steve stayed with my mom for a year," Bibby said. "I'd rather not say anything, but I know Steve, and it's crazy to see him like that. I mean, he's protecting. ... The team is like your family. Some people might be more with them than they are with their family.
"And you want to protect them and make sure they are OK. Like if somebody swung on one of our players or coaches, it would probably be the same for us."
Kings forward Chris Webber, a Detroit native, had to absorb a little kidding from reporters before answering questions, even if Auburn Hills is 30 miles from downtown.
"I saw the tape of it," Webber said. "I just don't have any comment on it. That was wild."
Asked if seeing that madness at the Palace reminded him of any similar situations playing ball while growing up, Webber said, "I don't want to talk about it too much, but I've seen stuff like that before. I've definitely been part of that before."
Webber said those tagging the ridiculous behavior of the Palace's fans with the Detroit area are off base.
"I don't know," he said. "I've seen some crazy stuff in baseball, and I've seen some crazy stuff in hockey. I think it's just people."
Asked if he felt safe in arenas around the NBA, Webber said, "I think (player safety) was an issue before (Friday night)." Then he retreated again, saying, "I really don't want to talk about it. I don't want to be the poster child on this."
Bringing an overseas view, Kings forward Darius Songaila, who grew up in Lithuania before attending prep school and college in the United States, said he had witnessed violence in another sport.
"I've seen soccer fights before," Songaila said. "Soccer fights get brutal. People die in soccer fights, but this is the worst I've ever seen in the NBA."
Alexander cut - The Kings on Saturday waived Courtney Alexander after concluding they didn't know what the oft-injured swingman could bring.
Alexander never could get healthy enough to show the Kings what he could do. He missed most of training camp because of a strained left thigh, then went on the injured list to start the season with a sore left foot.
"(President of basketball operations) Geoff (Petrie) and I have been talking about it for a couple of weeks trying to figure out what we could do," Adelman said. "(Alexander) practiced once last week, and he hasn't been on the floor since. We just felt (starting shooting guard) Doug (Christie) is healthy again, and (Alexander) is just so far behind us now, we didn't know when he was going to be able to practice, so it was best to part ways now.
"I feel sorry for him because he hasn't had any real chance to play with any consistency at all."
The Bee's Martin McNeal can be reached at [email="mmcneal@sacbee.com"]mmcneal@sacbee.com[/email]
