Top 5 NBA Brawls

1) Ralph Sampson v/s Jerry Sichting

Ralph Sampson, Houston Rockets’ giant of a center/forward, gets entangled right under the basket with the Boston Celtic’s guard Jerry Sichting. He snaps, and starts throwing punches at him. Sichting is a little man, at least in front of the man mountain who is assaulting him, but does not let a 1 foot 3 inches height differences dissuade him from fighting back. This is Game 5 of the 1986 NBA Finals and this is Sichting and Sampson. Ring that bell:

2) Larry Bird v/s Julius Erving

This incident finds itself on the list simply because of the two men involved in it – Julius ‘Dr.J’ Erving and Larry Bird. The Celtics’ man is obviously having a better game than The Doctor and with a minute and a half left to go in the third quarter, a frustrated Erving charges at Bird and throws a jab which lands straight in Bird’s face. As usual, everyone else intervenes and spoils what could have made a remarkable piece of televison. Although the Celtics beat the Philadelphia Sixers in this game, the Sixers’ fans still consider it a win, having seen Dr. J beat the… stuff, out of Bird. Come on now, ring that bell:

3) Knicks v/s Bulls

Well, this happened in the 1994 NBA Playoffs, and I can’t really make out who actually sparked the jab-fest, but this is one hell of a pile-up. And to make matters worse, or better, from where we’re standing, in the stands is Commissioner David Stern, watching all the hoopla with a bemused look on his face. I really don’t want to make up a bad pun about his second name now, so, where was that bell?:

4) Tree Rollins bites Danny Ainge

The Celtics, yet again, are playing the Atalanta Hawks and Tree Rollins, the seven feet tall Rollins elbows Danny Ainge, apparently as retaliation for the latter calling him a ‘sissy’, which sounds weird on countless levels. Ainge takes on the big guy and floors him, what follows is the usual middle school brawl and they are separated. But the weird part is, in the midst of that pile of testosterone, Tree takes a bite at the middle finger of Ainge, all the way down to the tendon. Hmm.. is someone even going to ring the bell now?

5) Larry Johnson v/s Alonzo Mourning

These two individuals never got along even when they were on the same team. So when Mourning and Johnson were drafted from the Hornets to the Miami Heat and NY Knicks respectively, it created the perfect ring for them to bout. In an Eastern Conference QFs Game, both these ex-Hornets met near the basket, and since Mourning did not like how physical Johnson was getting, he took a swing at the Knicks man. They continued to throw jabs at the wind until Van Gundy, the Knicks coach came in to save the day. Both were suspended for the next two games. Ahhh, there’s that bell… *DING DING DING* Enjoy the show…!