Jul 22, 2008 - 10:16 PM
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After a made free throw by Los Angeles, Sparks rookie sensation Candace Parker and the Shock's Plenette Pierson got tangled up and both fell to the floor. Pierson then charged Parker, who slung the Detroit center to the court, igniting the melee.
Shock assistant coach Rick Mahorn came off the bench - apparently as a peacemaker - but the 6-10, 300-plus pounder incited more violence when he inadvertently knocked Los Angeles forward Lisa Leslie to the floor.
Leslie's teammate, DeLisha Milton-Jones, then came to her rescue by punching a stunned Mahorn in the shoulder.
"This is a women's game. ... I would never push a woman," Mahorn said after the game. "Our job as coaches is to protect all the players. I have nothing but the utmost respect for (Leslie)."
Parker, the No. 1 overall pick in April, Pierson, Mahorn and Milton-Jones all were ejected.
"I'm a mom. I don't want to represent myself like this in front of my daughter," Leslie said. "It was really a sad thing that happened."
Shock forward Cheryl Ford, who was trying to hold Pierson back from.re-entering the fray, fell to the court with an apparent knee injury. However, she was able to leave the floor under her own power.
It was a rare in-game fight in the WNBA but not the first tussle in Detroit, which also was the site of perhaps the worst brawl in NBA history, when then-Indiana Pacers forward Ron Artest went into the stands to trade fisticuffs with fans in a game against the Detroit Pistons in November 2004.
Much like that brawl, Leslie expects Tuesday's fracas to draw plenty of unwanted scrutiny.
"For it to be a televised game, it makes some highlights," she said, "And this is not the way we want to get attention."
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