Ben Wallace was seething, being pulled back to the Detroit Pistons’ bench by teammates in the waning seconds of a fiercely physical game against the Indiana Pacers on Nov. 19, 2004.
The Pacers’ Ron Artest succeeded in getting under Wallace’s skin, giving him a hard foul on a drive that started a chain of events that hadn’t been seen in modern sports history. Wallace delivered a two-handed shove to Artest’s face, and all 10 players on the floor were barking and having to be separated before something catastrophic happened.
In that moment, Ben Wallace was ready for a fight.