Most hated player... and why?

Just on Fish - I am clearly biased by 0.04. (which I will go to my grave thinking wasn't legit - but them's the breaks).

But I reckon a big part of it for it for people is about how he left the Jazz to return to the Lakers just in time to win 2 more titles. Obviously there's nothing you can blame him for in that situation - sick daughter, asked out a contract to spend more time with her, be closer to specialist care etc... but then signs a contract shortly afterwards with a Lakers team that was ready to make a run at the title. Just the timing and team he joined was just a bit ah - 'fishy'. (just noting as well, that reportedly, his daughters initial specialist treatment was in New York).
As I said, you can't blame him for making any decision at that point, you just feel sorry the Jazz with how that all played out, particularly after Fisher was an important part of their playoff run that year.

i welcome your honesty mate.

at the time, the vitriol spewed at him was disgusting, mean, something alan jones would be proud of. certainly bigfooty had some posters who attacked him and his situation (not to the level of the jazz fans). i wasnt mod at the time, but it couldve been handled better. alas time passed and we all move on, and we're all mates.
 
Delonte West. Something about him is just complete w***er.

Ben Wallace. He was the single cause of the Pistons-Pacers brawl but all the Pacers players copped it in the press.
 
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Met him at tiger lil's in perth about 4-5 years ago at the little locked off bar. He's a really nice guy, it was for Supernova peeps and a couple of people who paid absolute premium prices to talk to people and he was with eliza dushku or however you say it. I was at another function and noticed him. Was suprised that someone recognised him as a former basketball player. got to talk to him for about 10-15 minutes, cool guy. He also had a big chat to my brother who was looking to go play basketball in the college system untill his injury and gave him some awesome advice and was really genuine

I think for me, Josh Smith
So Eliza Dushku was there and you spent your time talking to Rick Fox?? :drunk::drunk:
 

didaksrightfoot

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How was Wallace the reason for that??? :drunk:

Wallace was the one who reacted very aggresively to a (not particularly hard) foul from Artest that led to Artest retreating to the scorers table to try and get out of the situation? Wallace also followed into the crowd as well when things escalated.
And wasn't Wallace's brother (and his posse?) reported to be a big part of the crowd stuff?

Clearly Artest and Jackson deserved their very heavy suspensions.
But it was interesting that the Pistons basically got of scot free.
 
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Gotta be Lance Stephenson. Had one pretty good season with Indy yet thinks he's some sort of superstar hall of famer. Meanwhile he rides the bench for the Clippers and still has the audacity to mouth off to players far more talented and successful than he is.
 
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i welcome your honesty mate.

at the time, the vitriol spewed at him was disgusting, mean, something alan jones would be proud of. certainly bigfooty had some posters who attacked him and his situation (not to the level of the jazz fans). i wasnt mod at the time, but it couldve been handled better. alas time passed and we all move on, and we're all mates.
Fisher was a Nick Maxwell type I think.

Really wasn't that great but he was perfect for the Lakers and I will forever remember his championship saving play in the 2010 finals. Absolutely stunned the Celtics in game 3 which was a pivotal game in the series.
 
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So Eliza Dushku was there and you spent your time talking to Rick Fox?? :drunk::drunk:
rick-fox-bro1.jpg


Who wouldn't?!?
 
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Wallace was the one who reacted very aggresively to a (not particularly hard) foul from Artest that led to Artest retreating to the scorers table to try and get out of the situation? Wallace also followed into the crowd as well when things escalated.
And wasn't Wallace's brother (and his posse?) reported to be a big part of the crowd stuff?

Clearly Artest and Jackson deserved their very heavy suspensions.
But it was interesting that the Pistons basically got of scot free.
You cant blame it all on Wallace, sure he overreated to a fairly normal foul. But why Artest goes and and lays down on the scorers table Ill never know. Then a fan throws a beer at him. As a normal person, you have to let that go. Instead he wades in throwing punches, it was ridiculous and had nothing to do with Ben Wallace.

Talking about Ron Artest. He's a giant douche.
 
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You cant blame it all on Wallace, sure he overreated to a fairly normal foul. But why Artest goes and and lays down on the scorers table Ill never know. Then a fan throws a beer at him. As a normal person, you have to let that go. Instead he wades in throwing punches, it was ridiculous and had nothing to do with Ben Wallace.

Talking about Ron Artest. He's a giant douche.
Sure. But the NBA had already been cracking down on scuffles and brawls after some ugly scenes in the 80s and 90s. Players were aware of this and I'm sure the league would've emphasised how it isn't a good look, nor does it create anything good involving fans.

Wallace just wanted to show he was tough, but should have just walked away. Artest on the other hand tried to avoid escalating it, and unfortunately the fan throwing the cup just wound him up that little bit too much. What difference does him lying down make? He could've sat there or stood near it and that douche still throws the drink.The guy has had issues with his anger, he easily could've smacked Wallace initially which in hindsight would've been preferable but he didn't. He was definitely stupid for the events in the stands. Wallace should never get a free pass for those events though. He goes after Artest purely because he was shitty that the Pistons were going to lose, and wanted to take his frustrations out in some way. His loser brother throwing haymakers in the stands later is pathetic too. Obviously Ben didn't think things would end up in the stands, but I'm pretty certain the two would've spoken about how Ben could wind up Artest.

Wallace and Artest are both thugs. Wallace initiated the whole thing though. Detroit is probably one of the worst cities to start game brawls in, particularly in basketball, with seats coming so close to the game.
 
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Sure. But the NBA had already been cracking down on scuffles and brawls after some ugly scenes in the 80s and 90s. Players were aware of this and I'm sure the league would've emphasised how it isn't a good look, nor does it create anything good involving fans.

Wallace just wanted to show he was tough, but should have just walked away. Artest on the other hand tried to avoid escalating it, and unfortunately the fan throwing the cup just wound him up that little bit too much. What difference does him lying down make? He could've sat there or stood near it and that douche still throws the drink.The guy has had issues with his anger, he easily could've smacked Wallace initially which in hindsight would've been preferable but he didn't. He was definitely stupid for the events in the stands. Wallace should never get a free pass for those events though. He goes after Artest purely because he was shitty that the Pistons were going to lose, and wanted to take his frustrations out in some way. His loser brother throwing haymakers in the stands later is pathetic too. Obviously Ben didn't think things would end up in the stands, but I'm pretty certain the two would've spoken about how Ben could wind up Artest.

Wallace and Artest are both thugs. Wallace initiated the whole thing though. Detroit is probably one of the worst cities to start game brawls in, particularly in basketball, with seats coming so close to the game.
Yeah that's complete nonsense. You see little flare ups like that in games all the time. Did Wallace over react? Sure. But you see it in games all the time. A couple of players throw some handbags. A double tech gets handed out and the world still turns.

Artest started it all, not Wallace.

Artest is a professional athlete getting paid millions of dollars, sometimes fans do stupid s**t. That kinda stuff comes with the gig. He should be mature enough to let that go. But as a grown man, his reaction to what happened was to wade into the crowd throwing punches which incited a near on riot.

It was ALL Artest. Nothing to do with Wallace.
 
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Yeah that's complete nonsense. You see little flare ups like that in games all the time. Did Wallace over react? Sure. But you see it in games all the time. A couple of players throw some handbags. A double tech gets handed out and the world still turns.

Artest started it all, not Wallace.

Artest is a professional athlete getting paid millions of dollars, sometimes fans do stupid s**t. That kinda stuff comes with the gig. He should be mature enough to let that go. But as a grown man, his reaction to what happened was to wade into the crowd throwing punches which incited a near on riot.

It was ALL Artest. Nothing to do with Wallace.
Have you ever played sport seriously? If you have you would surely have had moments with spectators, players, refs or whoever that rile you right up in the heat of battle. Artest copped that, he might have looked come lying down but I'm sure he was seething at Wallace's cheap shot and come at me antics over what was a normal foul. Then an idiot fan throws beer on him when he has done nothing wrong. Sure, he absolutely should have shown restraint, but he's not a robot. A douchebag does that to you in a bar, do you do nothing? You're acting like Artest just wanted an excuse to smack someone. Him snapping cost the Pacers a shot at the title that season, and to be honest Artest's career was like a game of roulette from that point onwards.

Wallace could've shot two free throws like a grown man, instead of trying to poke the bear and everyone would've gone home happy.

Sure professional athletes should never snap back at fans, but it happens. Mostly in late night situations but in this instance it happened at a stadium.

You cannot ignore Wallace's role as instigator. Artest would be third on my list behind Wallace and the idiotic fan.
 
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Have you ever played sport seriously? If you have you would surely have had moments with spectators, players, refs or whoever that rile you right up in the heat of battle. Artest copped that, he might have looked come lying down but I'm sure he was seething at Wallace's cheap shot and come at me antics over what was a normal foul. Then an idiot fan throws beer on him when he has done nothing wrong. Sure, he absolutely should have shown restraint, but he's not a robot. A douchebag does that to you in a bar, do you do nothing? You're acting like Artest just wanted an excuse to smack someone. Him snapping cost the Pacers a shot at the title that season, and to be honest Artest's career was like a game of roulette from that point onwards.

Wallace could've shot two free throws like a grown man, instead of trying to poke the bear and everyone would've gone home happy.

Sure professional athletes should never snap back at fans, but it happens. Mostly in late night situations but in this instance it happened at a stadium.

You cannot ignore Wallace's role as instigator. Artest would be third on my list behind Wallace and the idiotic fan.
More complete nonsense.

You're completely clueless.

No point continuing on.
 
Have you ever played sport seriously?

i'll let you off with a public warning this time. correct terminology is "do you even basketball?"

Artest's career stagnated after that didn't it, was looking like a supreme wing defender and stopper coming into his peak before Malace at the Palace.

certainly took a toll on him. of course his apex was winning championship at the lakers.
 

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Yeah that's complete nonsense. You see little flare ups like that in games all the time. Did Wallace over react? Sure. But you see it in games all the time. A couple of players throw some handbags. A double tech gets handed out and the world still turns.

Artest started it all, not Wallace.

Artest is a professional athlete getting paid millions of dollars, sometimes fans do stupid s**t. That kinda stuff comes with the gig. He should be mature enough to let that go. But as a grown man, his reaction to what happened was to wade into the crowd throwing punches which incited a near on riot.

It was ALL Artest. Nothing to do with Wallace.

Artest absolutely did the right thing by going to the scorers table.
He's actually come out and said that that was one of the things he had been told to do to manage his emotions in situations like that - to get out of the situation.
Artests foul on Wallace was minor. It was not particularly "hard" it was just that it was unexpected for Wallace at the end of the game like that (which given the rivalry like that, it should never be unexpected).
Wallace is the one who instigated things at the start. Wallace is the one who first starting pushing Artest and needed to be held back by a crowd of his own teammates. Wallace was basically wanting to get into a melee on the court.

At that stage, Artest had done nothing wrong. At that stage, with Artest at the scorers table (acting like a bit of a douche, as he does, pretending to do an interview), and Wallace midcourt surrounded by his teammates, things had calmed down for a moment. At that point, Artest had done exactly the right thing by getting away from the situation and not getting into a fight with Wallace on court.
(Although in hindsight, that would've been "better", with both likely geting double T's and fines/suspensions)

This is all referring to everything before the cup. If the above didn't happen, and Wallace didn't react so aggresively, then Artest would never have been in the position for what happened next.

But yes, what happened next is all on Artest and the fan.

lol at blaming Wallace.

Artest=Fan>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Wallace

Definitely agree that the primary blame is on Artest and the Fan - and there is no doubt that Artest deserved his year-long suspension (he's even come out and said he was half expecting Stern to expel him from the league), and the Fan deserved his criminal conviction (I think) as well as his life ban (was also on parole at the time IIRC)... but I don't agree that Wallace is as blameless as you seem to think - and a 6 game suspension was incredibly weak compared to J O'Neal getting 30.
 
Most disappointing thing about my original post was I didn't include Kobe Bryant in my most hated list.
I can't believe I didn't hate him all those years ago.:mad:
 
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