Top 5 Craziest Moments in the NBA

The NBA itself has a lot of stories. Some of them are inspiring and can make children dream. Some are unprecedented like Kobe and Shaq’s rivalry turned camaraderie. However, some stories can be so crazy that many people still talk about it today. 

And no, we’re not talking about the biggest controversies in the NBA, but to be fair, some of the items on this list are controversial. What we’ll talk about specifically in this list is some of the craziest moments in NBA history. From all-out brawls to injuries, the NBA has many of them over the years, and we will talk about them. Let’s start.

Latrell Sprewell

The name itself is something to remember. Before Latrell Sprewell became an NBA player with a 10 million dollar contract with the New York Knicks and the Minnesota Timberwolves and with quite a bad attitude to boot, he was an even worse player in managing his aggression and temper. 

Before going to the Timberwolves and Knicks, he was a former Golden State Warriors player who established himself as a dangerous scorer and shooter for the said team. He already made a killing with three all-star games and was paving the road to being one of the elite in the NBA. However, that all changed one December night when he had enough of the criticisms made by P.J. Carlesimo. 

During a practice, Carlesimo criticized Spree’s passes saying that he wanted him to do them crisply; Spree told the coach numerous times that he didn’t want to hear it and better distance himself from him. When Carlesimo ignored his statements and approached him, Spree threw him down and choked him for ten seconds before his teammates pried him from the coach. 

It was only the first round, though, as twenty minutes later, Spree punched Carlesimo in the face. He was soon let go by the Golden States Warriors and had a good career with the Knicks and T Wolves. However, he will forever remain infamous because of the event.

2004 Olympic Team Fiasco

In 2004, Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, and Kevin Garnett declined the offer to play on the 2004 USA team for the Olympics. That said, the players who joined were Dwayne Wade, LeBron James, and Carmelo Anthony, rookies at the time. However, they will be joined by veterans Shawn Marion, Lamar Odom, Allen Iverson, and Tim Duncan. 

The expectations were still high, with people expecting the team to win another gold medal. However, the conclusion was a far cry from their expectations. They mostly lost their games, but they got lucky enough to beat Lithuania to win a bronze medal. NBA betting was quite dreary during that time. However, the team redeemed themselves in the 2008 Olympics by winning another gold medal.

Tim Hardaway Controversial Statement

Tim Hardaway will always be remembered as one of the best-ever point guards in NBA history. However, when he went on a local radio show in Miami in 2007, nobody expected the words that came out of his mouth.

Long story short, he was asked about possibly playing with a certain demographic in the NBA. His response was crazy, for lack of a better word. He said that he doesn’t like these people and straight out stated that he doesn’t like  them being in the NBA. 

Completely ice cold, if one should say. The NBA would then respond by taking him out of the All-star weekend that is upcoming at the time, and CBS would distance themselves by dismissing him. He would return what he said, but that damage has already been done.

Nuggets and Knicks Brawl

The best part about this whole thing, or at least that’s what the people who watched it on their TVs say, is that Nate Robinson is losing his mind and dancing like Mike Tyson, challenging everyone who ever heard of the word Denver to throw down with him. 

Some say that the craziest thing in the uproar is Carmelo Anthony throwing sucker punches and backpedaling to safety. Whatever it is, a lot happened on that fateful day because of a foul, and Carmelo set a world record of a 100m back dash. So what really happened? Basically, Collins committed a flagrant foul then Smith reacted. Robinson then reacted to the reaction and it all built up from there to being one of the most unforgettable brawls in NBA history.

Malice in the Palace

Of course, this list wouldn’t be complete without the craziest brawl in the NBA, dubbed the Malice in the Palace. This happened when one of the players was pissed off by one fan by throwing multiple plastic cups at him. After the fact, Ron Artest went right into the stands and proceeded to attack the said plastic cup thrower.

After that whole fiasco, Artest was punished with 86 suspended games. Jackson would also receive 30 games, O’Neal with 15, and Ben Wallace with six. Anthony Johnson was also given 5, and Reggie Miller, Derrick Coleman, Elden Campbell, and Chauncey Billups were given one.

Final Words

The NBA has a lot of stories, and some of them can be so crazy that many people still remember them to this day. Some fans even boast about being there and witnessing it themselves. But with all that said, these are some of the craziest moments in NBA history, and we’re pretty sure a lot more will come along the way.