Sparks–Shock brawl
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| Date | July 22, 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, Michigan | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 12,930 | ||||||||||||||||||
The Sparks–Shock brawl (also known as The Malice at the Palace II) was an altercation that occurred in a Women's National Basketball Association game between the Detroit Shock and Los Angeles Sparks on July 21, 2008 at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Ray Ratto, of the Wall Street Journal, wrote, "It was in the classic sense, one of those things that occasionally happens when highly competitive people want the same thing and one can’t have it."[1]
Altercation
With 4.5 seconds before the game was officially over, the fighting began on the court during a free throw attempt by Los Angeles' Marie Ferdinand-Harris, when the Shocks' Plenette Pierson made a hard block on the Sparks' Candace Parker, causing both players to become entangled and fall over. As Parker tried to stand up, Pierson stormed over to her and aggressively walked over the top of her, knocking her back down, and resulting in Parker pulling Pierson down to the ground. Parker and Pierson both tried to throw a punch at one another before Parker was tackled by Deanna Nolan, as players and coaches from both teams quickly intervened. Detroit assistant coach Rick Mahorn came off the bench as a peacemaker, but the 6-10, 300-plus pounder incited more violence when he inadvertently knocked Sparks' player Lisa Leslie backwards to the floor as Leslie swung at him. Leslie's teammate, DeLisha Milton-Jones, then pushed and punched Mahorn in the back in retaliation, causing the Sparks' Shannon Bobbitt and Murriel Page to both come off the bench and shove Mahorn as well. Pierson, Parker, Milton-Jones, and Mahorn were all ejected from the game. The altercation also resulted in a season-ending ACL injury to Shock player Cheryl Ford, who was trying to restrain Pierson.[2]
This was the second major basketball fight to occur at The Palace in four years, the other being the Pacers–Pistons brawl in 2004.
Suspensions
| Player | Suspension Length | Reason |
| Plenette Pierson, Shock | 4 games | Initiated altercation |
| Rick Mahorn, Asst. Coach - Shock | 2 games | Escalated altercation |
| Shannon Bobbitt, Sparks | 2 games | Left the bench, threw a punch |
| Murriel Page, Sparks | 2 games | Left the bench, threw a punch |
| Candace Parker, Sparks | 1 game | Threw a punch |
| DeLisha Milton-Jones, Sparks | 1 game | Threw a punch |
| Lisa Leslie, Sparks | 1 game | Threw a punch |
| Sheri Sam, Shock | 1 game | Left the bench |
| Elaine Powell, Shock | 1 game | Left the bench |
| Tasha Humphrey, Shock | 1 game | Left the bench |
| Kara Braxton, Shock | 1 game | Left the bench |
According to WNBA rules:
- Any player not on the floor who leaves the bench area during the altercation receives a one-game suspension.
- Any player who attempts to throw a punch (successful or not) receives a one-game suspension.
Because they were ejected after the altercation, Parker, Milton-Jones, Mahorn, and Pierson all started serving their suspensions the immediate next game. Also according to WNBA rules, each team must have at least eight active members to play a game. Therefore, suspensions were staggered by alphabetical order of last name. To have eight on the Sparks' roster, Page was allowed to play in the immediate next game and served her suspension starting with the second game after the altercation. Because she was not active, Powell served her suspension when she was taken off the inactive list.[3]
