Knicks–Nuggets brawl

The incident occurred with 1:15 remaining in the Knicks' home game at Madison Square Garden, where the Nuggets were leading 119–100. The Knicks' Mardy Collins fouled the Nuggets' J. R. Smith on a fast break by slapping his arms around Smith's neck, knocking him to the floor; Collins was immediately whistled for a Flagrant 2 Foul by official Dick Bavetta, meaning Collins was to be immediately ejected. As Smith stood up to confront Collins, Nate Robinson pulled Smith away, and then began pushing and shouting at him. David Lee tried to hold Smith back, but Smith broke free and charged into Robinson, causing both players to fall into the photographers and front row courtside seats before they were quickly separated by teammates.[4]

As the fighting was seemingly coming to an end, Anthony confronted Collins and punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground. Jared Jeffries immediately tried to attack Anthony but tripped over Camby before being restrained by coaches and teammates, while Anthony backed up towards the Nuggets' bench. Collins also ran down the court to get at Anthony but was blocked by Nenê and Smith. All ten players on the court at the time of the incident were ejected by the officiating crew that consisted of Bavetta, Violet Palmer, and Robbie Robinson.[4] No fans came onto the court during the entire ordeal, which prevented any repetition of the Pacers–Pistons brawl from two years before. Linas Kleiza made one of two free throws off of the initial flagrant foul by Collins, as Smith, who would have been the one to shoot the free throws after being the recipient of the foul, was among those ejected.

NBA Commissioner David Stern reacted with strict penalties for the players involved, stating, "It is our obligation to take the strongest possible steps to avoid such failures in the future". Seven players were suspended for a total of 47 games, and the players lost in excess of US$1.2 million in salary. Each team was also fined US$500,000.[5][6] Because Anthony's suspension was longer than twelve games, he was eligible to appeal to an arbitrator; however, Anthony eventually announced he would not attempt one, saying he did not "want to be a further distraction".[7]

Several sportswriters said the brawl was not as violent as the Pacers–Pistons brawl two years before,[8][9] and 81% of respondents in a SportsNation poll said the biggest difference between the two brawls was that it "didn't involve players going into the stands and fighting fans".[10] However, MSNBC's Michael Ventre said that the Knicks and Nuggets brawl was worse because "it was touched off by the actions of players, and it escalated because of them".[11] Several writers said that the penalties were more severe because of the Pacers–Pistons brawl, because the NBA was on a "very serious image-cleanup campaign".[12][13]

Steve Francis claimed that the media reaction to the fight and the suspensions itself were "racially motivated", arguing that Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League had "incidents that are way worse than basketball" but did not face the scrutiny that the NBA received "because there are more black players in the NBA".[14] This was echoed by several writers, and sportswriter-television personality Michael Wilbon said that, "NBA players have endured more scrutiny, pertaining to image, than any other professional athletes in America".[8][12] Martin Luther King III called for a meeting to end the violence in the NBA, stating, "Individuals who play a game should be able to conduct themselves appropriately". However, the NBA said through a spokesman that they "don't think that meeting is necessary".[15]

Thomas came under scrutiny for his actions before the brawl.

Minutes before the brawl started, Knicks coach Isiah Thomas asked Anthony not to go into the painted area around the basket, despite the fact that they were not members of the same team. Thomas later said that because Nuggets head coach George Karl kept his team's starting players on the court for the closing minutes of the game, which Thomas thought showed a lack of sportsmanship, his orders to Anthony were to "show some class".[16] However, Karl responded by saying the brawl "was directed by Isiah".[17]

Thomas was not penalized after the brawl, as an NBA investigation ruled that they did not have "adequate evidence upon which to make a determination",[18] but several writers criticized the NBA for not including Thomas in the suspensions.[12][17][19][20][21] ESPN analyst Marc Stein called Thomas' explanations of his comments "laughable",[22] and commentator Greg Anthony, a former Knicks player, said he "never had a coach say that to an opponent".[23] It was also suggested that Thomas was attempting to resurrect the physical tactics of his former team, the "Bad Boy" Detroit Pistons.[24][25]

In response to Thomas saying that keeping the Nuggets starters on the floor in the final minutes of the game was unsportsmanlike, Karl said that he "never thought about running up the score", and only wanted to "get a big win on the road".[26] However, several sportswriters criticized his decision, and some said that he should also have been penalized.[26][27][28] It was also suggested that Karl was trying to humiliate Thomas due to the perception that Thomas had mistreated Larry Brown, a friend of Karl's.[19][27][28] Karl was also blamed for putting his players in a position to start a fight.[8][27]

The day following the brawl, Anthony issued a statement and apology to his family, to the NBA, and to fans. He also specifically apologized to Mardy Collins, whom he directly struck during the incident.[29] At the time of the brawl, Anthony was the league's leading scorer;[13] his suspension was also the longest of the players suspended, and the sixth-longest in NBA history.[30] According to former NBA player Steve Kerr, Anthony had "tarnished" his image,[13] and basketball analyst Ric Bucher said that Anthony had "torched his own career".[31] Sports Illustrated writer Marty Burns said that Anthony faced becoming known by sports fans across America as the player who punched Collins in the face and then ran away.[32] An example of the backlash was Northwest Airlines pulling Anthony from its in-flight magazine cover, as it said it did not want "to condone the behavior of Anthony".[33] In 2019, Anthony said that the NBA was "making an example of [him] at that point in time" because of the fallout from the Pacers–Pistons brawl.[34]