When events occurr as they did on Friday night in Detroit, it is very difficult to assign sole blame to anyone.  I am certain that everyone regrets what ensued on Friday night in a rivalry game between the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons.

For a whole host of reasons, the NBA is very fortunate that what happened at the Palace had never happened before, and they should consider themselves very fortunate that nobody was critically injured or was killed, because it could have happened.

- Ben Wallace is a man of tremendous character and he took exception to a very hard foul that Ron Artest committed on him when the game was out of reach, after Indiana had  outplayed Detroit, losing by 15 points.  There is no way that he could have imagined what occurred after he pushed Artest by the throat.

- Artest, in his own unique way, attempted to refrain from engaging Wallace and the Pistons by lying down on the scorer?s table.  It was another of his vintage Rodman moves, which simultaneously put himself out of the action and also continued to make himself the center of it.

- ESPN is continuously running the clips of the brawl in the stands and everyone has seen it, so there is no point in reliving it here, but here a few things that I have noticed:

- Ron Artest didn?t appear to hit anyone that was in the stands.  He himself was hit several times.  As was Fred Jones.  It was when Artest returned to the floor when he hit the fan with the Richard Hamilton jersey.  At one point he looked like Uma Thurman in 'Kill Bill,' expecting people in Detroit Pistons' jerseys to keep coming at him.  Maybe those two guys were just asking for Artest's autograph.

- Stephen Jackson, on the other hand, definitely connected in the stands.  He also was instigating the situation with several Detroit players on the floor prior to that.

- Jermaine O?Neal had the squarest punch of the night, on a fan that had come onto the floor.  O?Neal, like Ben Wallace, is typically a classy individual and was protecting his teammates, but acted excessively.

- Ron Artest looked very scared throughout the incident.  His heart appeared to be racing when he was lying on the scorer?s table, caused by Ben Wallace having objections to the foul.  

- Ben Wallace made a movement to enter the stands when Artest headed up, but was held back, it was unclear whether he was going to get a piece of Artest or to act as a mediator with the fans.  On a certain level, the Pacers and Pistons became allies in an arena on the verge of a riot.  

- It is really unfortunate that Chuck Person didn?t usher Artest off the floor earlier.  Reggie Miller was keeping a hand on Artest while he was on the scorer?s table, but he easily escaped into the stands like Vernon Maxwell when he was hit by the beer cup.

- Amazingly, Rasheed Wallace was playing peacekeeper and behaved exceptionally throughout the entire melee.  Rick Mahorn also was very helpful in preventing the situation from worsening.

- And Jamaal Tinsley tried to fend off the fans with a dust pan in the tunnel.

- Record-setting suspensions await many of the involved parties.  Artest will likely be suspended immediately and indefinitely.  The precedent for Artest will be Vernon Maxwell's suspension of 10 games when he went into the stands in Portland.  It is likely that all suspensions will be followed by grievances filed by the Player?s Association, claiming that the Palace mishandled its arena security.

- The NBA might consider playing the next five Detroit home games in an empty arena, or at the very least consider playing all remaining Pacers/Pistons games in empty arenas, including the playoffs, where they will likely meet in the second round.  

- It is possible, however, that the Pacers? season is in extreme jeopardy.  With Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson and Jermaine O?Neal, the main participants, Indiana?s three best players will certainly be suspended for an extended period of time.  The Eastern Conference is so weak that those three could each be suspended for 30 games and they would still easily make the playoffs.

- Fans have been taunting players for year?s and that is a healthy part of the game, but throwing objects at players, or coming on to the playing surface is inexcusable at all times.  Whether it?s throwing batteries at outfielders, or cups of beers at a player lying on the scorer?s table, fans must remember that there isn?t an invisible cage surrounding the court.  Throwing a cup of beer and hitting a person is assault and it unfortunately Artest didn?t let the Palace officials deal with that matter.

- At least now the NBA has found their version of the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry that the MLB promotes so venomously.

- All in all, it was the ugliest NBA incident since Kermit Washington punched Rudy Tomjanovich and with the way the fans were involved, one Friday night in Detroit, could reshape the way the NBA conducts its business.

- But ultimately, the NBA and the NCAA, for that matter, both have a fundamental problem with the way its arenas are configured.  With the fans right on top of the action, without any barriers, it is very easy for fans to enter the court and for players to enter the stands.  Due to this easy access, events like Detroit have the possibility of resulting, where good people get swept into things that become bigger than themselves.