NEW YORK — In a surprising ruling, the NBA decided not to suspend any of the players who left the bench during last week's Kings-Lakers fight.
"In the end we felt this case was very unusual, a special case," league vice president Stu Jackson said Monday in announcing that Rick Fox of the Lakers was being suspended for six games and Doug Christie of Sacramento for two.
Jackson ruled that because the players left the bench to join a fracas in a hallway underneath the stands, rather than on the court, they would not receive the customary one-game suspension for that offense.
The suspensions will take effect Tuesday night when both teams play their season-openers — the Lakers facing San Antonio and the Kings playing Cleveland. In the only other game of the night, Philadelphia plays at Orlando.
"This is not a new precedent at all," Jackson said "Going forward, players stepping onto the court will be met with same (penalty) as in prior years."
The NBA enforced a much tighter interpretation of the leaving-the-bench rule several years ago when fights broke out during playoff games between the Miami Heat and New York Knicks. In 1998, Chris Mills of the Knicks was suspended for a playoff game after walking just a few steps onto the court during a fight between Alonzo Mourning and Larry Johnson.
In 1997, Johnson, Patrick Ewing, Allan Houston and John Starks were suspended one game apiece for leaving the bench during a fight between P.J. Brown and Charlie Ward. The four suspended Knicks filed suit in federal court to have their suspensions overturned, arguing that they were acting as peacemakers, but a judge dismissed their claim.
Previous suspensions for leaving the bench were made in accordance with an NBA rule that states: "During an altercation, all players not taking part in the game must remain in the immediate vicinity of the bench. Violators will be suspended without pay for a minimum of one game and fined up to $20,000."
Fox and Christie will miss their season openers Tuesday, although Fox will be allowed to attend the Lakers' ring ceremony before their game against San Antonio.
Fox is not eligible to return until the Lakers' game at Washington on Nov. 8.
"Six seemed excessive," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said, "but they wanted to send a message that this is action they can't have happen."
The fight broke out just over 2 minutes into Friday's game. Christie, a Sacramento guard, threw the ball at Fox, who hit him with an open hand. Christie then punched the Lakers forward in the jaw. After the players were separated and left the court, Fox rushed down a hallway under the stands and confronted Christie again.
"Fox leaving the floor and racing down the back hallway to meet Christie at the other end was a very egregious act, something we took very seriously, and the penalty reflects that," Stu Jackson said.
When the fight resumed beneath the stands, several Sacramento players left the bench area and raced down a tunnel leading to the locker rooms.
Stu Jackson noted that when the fight first broke out on the court, none of the Kings players left the bench. He also said that the Kings players likely did not know exactly what was happening under the stands when they rushed off the court to intervene.
The Kings, who were relieved by the ruling, will have only nine players available for their opener as Mike Bibby, Lawrence Funderburke and Christie will be sidelined.
"I was glad the commissioner saw fit to understand, not just react," Christie said.
One day after publicly needling Christie because the player's wife joined the fracas, Fox was contrite after the penalty was announced.
"You deal with the mistakes, and if it's a bad choice on my part, then hopefully the next time that we play I'll be a little wiser for it," Fox said.