NBA needs an entertainment factor more than just the game itself? Well, that’s what 2024 NBA championship-winning coach Joe Mazzulla seems to believe. And when he says this, he is straight up advocating for more physicality or violence in the league. “The biggest thing that we rob people of from an entertainment standpoint is you can’t fight anymore. I wish we’d bring back like fighting,” Mazzulla told NBC Sports Boston. While there has time and again been criticism against the league going soft, the chances are thin that everyone would agree with Joe’s ask.

If anything Gilbert Arenas believes, the Celtics could themselves suffer if their coach’s desire came true. Gil’s response to Mazzulla was blunt. He questioned if the Celtics are really ready to face someone like Isaiah Stewart, known for his aggression, in a full-on brawl. “Is there someone on his team… That thinks if Isaiah Stewart was allowed to punch one of them in the face, does he think one of them won’t get their face and jaw broken?”

Gilbert Arenas wasn’t sugarcoating anything, raising the stakes of how players like Draymond Green or Stewart would handle physical altercations. Then, the ex-Warriors star didn’t hesitate to remind everyone of a darker chapter in NBA history. Kermit Washington’s infamous punch to Rudy Tomjanovich in 1977. “… It ruined his career. They said it sounded like a shotgun when it connected.”

For those unaware, the Lakers’ Washington landed a punch on Rudy when he saw the Rockets star approaching him. Washington faced a 60 day ban and $10,000 fine. But nothing when compared to Tomjanovich’s life-threatening injuries, including head and spinal injuries and five months off the court. For Arenas, Mazzulla’s throwback to a more violent style risks seeing today’s star players facing the same fate over a single foul.

“Now that’s what you were trying to bring back in today’s NBA. A dude you paid 300 something million dollars to getting his eye socket punched in over a hard foul,” Gil said on his podcast. Seemingly, referencing Jayson Tatum’s reported contract of nearly $315 million. However, if you think it was just the Rudy T incident that changed the rules in NBA against physicality, you are mistaken. The credit could instead go to a game that impacted the image of NBA as a whole.

The incident responsible for the blame that NBA has gone soft

It started like any other game. The Indiana Pacers faced off against the Detroit Pistons on November 19, 2004, with fans expecting another typical night of NBA action. But no one saw whatever happened next, coming. What began as a scuffle between Ron Artest (now Metta World Peace) and Ben Wallace ignited a chaotic chain of events that would make NBA history.

Fans threw punches at players, players threw punches back, and chairs flew across the arena. This night would forever be known as the Malice at the Palace. The incident left a mark far beyond the court. The NBA suddenly faced a harsh reality—it had an image problem. And they weren’t going to let it slide. From that night on, the league took a strict stance on physical altercations.

So, what did that mean for fans who loved the gritty style of the ’80s Pistons? Simply put, those days were over. Now, even swinging a single punch could mean sitting out the next game and landing one would mean a mean 15-game ban. And as mentioned by Gilbert Arenas as well, the league would not want to bring back the circumstances that again create image issues for the league.