How Jamaal Tinsley Lit the Fuse on the Malice at the Palace

Описание: November 19, 2004 - The tangled roots of the Malice at the Palace could likely be traced back as far as two years prior, when Corliss Williamson and Jermaine O'Neal nearly threw down following a collision at the basket. But in terms of who exactly lit the fuse on this fateful night, you mustn't look much further than Jamaal Tinsley.

Tinsley, described by Pistons broadcaster George Blaha as the best player on the floor on this particular night, stuffed the stat sheet, working within shouting distance of a rare steals-infused triple-double (13 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists). Alas, it would be his final on-court contribution of the night that would leave a lasting impact on league history.

With the Indiana comfortably ahead with a shade under a minute to go in the fourth, Pacers forward Stephen Jackson took notice of Tinsley acknowledging to mutual teammate Ron Artest that he could retaliate against Ben Wallace for a perceived slight potentially dating back to the previous postseason.

From Grantland's 2012 oral history of the Malice at the Palace:

Stephen Jackson (guard/forward, Pacers): [Toward] the end of the game, I recall somebody on the team told Ron, “You can get one now.” I heard it. I think somebody was shooting a free throw. Somebody said to Ron, “You can get one now,” meaning you can lay a foul on somebody who he had beef with in the game.

[Jermaine] O’Neal: I remember guys talking about that. I had just gotten taken out of the game maybe two or three minutes before that. We had just blown them out. You could see there was animosity.

Eleven seconds of game time later, Artest landed a discreet blow to the back of Wallace's head, leading to Wallace's authoritative response.

"Ben went to referee a couple plays before that," former Pistons shooting guard Richard Hamilton told Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes in a 2020 interview on All The Smoke. "He said to the referee, 'Hey man, look bro. Ron out here, being dirty, hit me with a cheap shot. If he hits me again, if y'all ain't going to do something about it, I'm going to do something about it.'"

Rip's interview on All The Smoke can be seen here, with the Malice portion beginning at 1:05:13 (coinciding with the start of Stephen Jackson's story on Tinsley, heard throughout the video above):    • Richard Hamilton's 2004 Title Run, Kobe Ba...  

Malice at the Palace Oral History via Grantland: https://grantland.com/features/an-ora...