Vantage Point

If you saw the thrilling movie Vantage Point (starring Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, and Forrest Whitaker), then John Feinstein's The Punch, has that feel. But don't think the entire book revolves around the fight between the Los Angeles Lakers' Kermit Washington and the Houston Rockets' Rudy Tomjanovich. After all, it was over in a few seconds.

It's an excellent and revealing read for it provides so much more than what was ever reported back when it happened before and after the incident. It's also a vastly different time since that was the pre-David Stern era of the NBA. The three-point shot wasn't being used then (save for the defunct ABA) and there were only two referees managing the game. It was largely because of this fight that a third official was finally inserted after this season (that was eventually won by the Portland Trailblazers). In the picture that I posted (gleaned of the web), from left to right: Calvin Murphy races in to help his teammate Kevin Kunnert who is pinned by the Lakers' Kareem Abdul-Jabbar; that is followed by Washington slugging Tomjanovich. The punch nearly killed the Houston Rocket as it literally re-arranged his face. Rudy T did recover but he soon retired with the incident having something to do with that.

As for other changes, it was because of this fight that led to the fines and suspensions of players who get off the bench and step onto the court during a fracas. As the NBA's Russ Granik said, "Remember, Tomjanovich was not involved in the fight."

When Rudy T became coach of the Lakers following Phil Jackson's departure, I wondered what it was like for him to go to the team that he had some history with albeit in some horrible way. Tomjanovich lasted only 41 games that season before Frank Hamblen took over on an interim basis. He resigned for issues that were never fully disclosed and unrelated to health. I'm not going to speculate on the whys and wherefores but that was one turbulent season considering the team was coming off that failed year with their Hall-of-Fame quarter in Shaq, Kobe, Karl Malone, and GP.

But for true fans of the game and budding NBA historians, this -- Feinstein's The Punch -- is a worthwhile read.