| Players Behaving Badly.com Lakers vs Rockets, 1977 Kermit Washington vs Rudy Tomjanovich |
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Washington is best remembered for punching opposing player Rudy Tomjanovich during an on-court fight on December 9,
1977. Washington was currently engaged in a brawl when he saw Tomjanovich running to help, so Washington swung
around to meet him. (See video below) The punch, which took Tomjanovich by surprise, fractured his face away from his
skull about 1/4 of an inch and left Tomjanovich unconscious in a pool of blood in the middle of the arena. Players involved
often say that right after Tomjanovich collapsed, the silence at the arena, filled with shocked fans, was "the loudest silence
ever heard". Upon later inspection by the doctors at the scene, it was discovered that Rudy was actually leaking spinal fluid
into his mouth, and that not only his basketball career, but his life, was in danger at that point. Tomjanovich would later
recount that at the time of the incident he believed a scoreboard fell on him. Washington, then playing with the Los Angeles
Lakers, was suspended for two months, missing 26 games. Tomjanovich, then of the Houston Rockets, missed the entire
season. He later won a court judgment against the L.A. Lakers and was awarded $3.2 million, even though the original sum
set by Tomjanovich was $2.4 million. The incident is remembered as one of the most frightening in the NBA's history. It
subsequently resulted in the league's clamping down on on-court fights, changing the very landscape of the game, and
paving the way for the new era ushered in by Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.
Despite the incident, Washington had an otherwise good reputation, and it was often stated at the time that he was being
used as a scapegoat for the NBA's recurring problems with violence. It must be remembered that a similar event occurred
during the opening game of the 1977-1978 season, a couple of months before the Tomjanovich incident. Two minutes into
the game, Washington's teammate Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had punched the Milwaukee Bucks' Kent Benson in retaliation for
an overly aggressive elbow. It happened that Abdul-Jabbar broke his hand and was out for two months; otherwise he could
have potentially inflicted serious harm and warranted a suspension. However, the stigma associated with Tomjanovich's
near-death experience would follow Washington for years even after his retirement. Washington would only play for five
more years in the NBA, being traded frequently because teams were unwilling to sign him.
1977. Washington was currently engaged in a brawl when he saw Tomjanovich running to help, so Washington swung
around to meet him. (See video below) The punch, which took Tomjanovich by surprise, fractured his face away from his
skull about 1/4 of an inch and left Tomjanovich unconscious in a pool of blood in the middle of the arena. Players involved
often say that right after Tomjanovich collapsed, the silence at the arena, filled with shocked fans, was "the loudest silence
ever heard". Upon later inspection by the doctors at the scene, it was discovered that Rudy was actually leaking spinal fluid
into his mouth, and that not only his basketball career, but his life, was in danger at that point. Tomjanovich would later
recount that at the time of the incident he believed a scoreboard fell on him. Washington, then playing with the Los Angeles
Lakers, was suspended for two months, missing 26 games. Tomjanovich, then of the Houston Rockets, missed the entire
season. He later won a court judgment against the L.A. Lakers and was awarded $3.2 million, even though the original sum
set by Tomjanovich was $2.4 million. The incident is remembered as one of the most frightening in the NBA's history. It
subsequently resulted in the league's clamping down on on-court fights, changing the very landscape of the game, and
paving the way for the new era ushered in by Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.
Despite the incident, Washington had an otherwise good reputation, and it was often stated at the time that he was being
used as a scapegoat for the NBA's recurring problems with violence. It must be remembered that a similar event occurred
during the opening game of the 1977-1978 season, a couple of months before the Tomjanovich incident. Two minutes into
the game, Washington's teammate Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had punched the Milwaukee Bucks' Kent Benson in retaliation for
an overly aggressive elbow. It happened that Abdul-Jabbar broke his hand and was out for two months; otherwise he could
have potentially inflicted serious harm and warranted a suspension. However, the stigma associated with Tomjanovich's
near-death experience would follow Washington for years even after his retirement. Washington would only play for five
more years in the NBA, being traded frequently because teams were unwilling to sign him.
