Memphis Grizzlies superstar Ja Morant received a 25-game suspension for flashing guns in an Instagram live video. Some felt the punishment the NBA levied was too harsh. However, they probably aren’t aware of the 2006 nightclub shooting incident involving the Indiana Pacers players. On the All The Smoke podcast in 2020, then-Pacers players Al Harrington and Stephen Jackson revealed the backstory behind the infamous incident.
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Harrington recalled he was walking out of Champps Americana when he saw teammate Jamaal Tinsley, who was driving a BMW 6-Series car. Harrington was enquiring Tinsley about his plans for the night as the Pacers had no practice the following day when he peeked into the backseat and saw “about 25 guns.” Jackson explained that guns belonged to the Pacers players. He said:
“So we had all just got our gun license. The sheriff had came to my house and gave us all gun licenses like two weeks before that.”
Harrington and Tinsley decided to party at a nightclub called Club Rio. The former called Jackson and informed him about the plan, and by evening, the whole team knew about it and met at the club. Harrington stayed for a while before calling it a night and heading to the hotel room. He shook Jackson’s hand, who told him he was also leaving soon.
The following day, Harrington went to the barbershop, and one of the employees enquired about the Pacers players’ health. He was confused by the question until the employee informed him that some of his teammates were involved in a shootout outside Club Rio. Recalling the conversation, Harrington said:
“I was the last person in the state of Indiana to know that these boys had a shootout.”
A worried Harrington frantically called Jackson, but he did not answer the phone. He then called Jermaine O’Neal, who informed him that he was at the hospital and the team planned to meet at Jackson’s house in two hours. Harrington recalled that the mood was “somber” before Jackson entered the room, which is when he got a clue about what had happened the previous night.
Stephen Jackson reveals the truth behind Pacers’ 2006 shootout incident
Harrington recalled that Jackson walked into the room with a swollen face and multiple teeth missing, prompting a hilarious response from their teammate Danny Granger. He said, “Daaaaaaamn Jack,” which made the injured star laugh.
Jackson then revealed how he got those facial injuries. He said:
“When Al pulled out of the parking lot, I was right behind him. But as Al was turning the corner, I saw Jamaal running out of the club. And they was chasing Jaamal to his car. And, I put my s**t in reverse.”
Jackson revealed he pulled out his pistol and ran towards his teammate. He hit one of the attackers with his gun. The situation escalated when more attackers reached the scene of the fight. Jackson and Tinsley were outnumbered, so the former fired warning two shots. He started sprinting towards his vehicle when he was run over by one of the attackers in a car. Jackson revealed the car running him over caused his facial injuries:
“[The car hit me], knocked me in the air. I hit the ground. The momentum of the car hit me. My face is hitting the ground. I stand up, all my teeth are gone, my lips shattered.”
Jackson and one of his teammates started firing their guns at the car that ran him over before he passed out due to his injuries. He woke up in the back of a police car at the police station. He woke up because Marquis Daniels, who was sitting beside him, kept kicking the car door to get a policeman’s attention because he believed his teammate was dying.
The police let the Pacers team leave, and they huddled up at a gas station. Jackson recalled the meeting, saying:
“We all had guns, we was gonna tear some shit up. I was ready to kill everything moving. And mid-sentence Jermaine O’Neal stopped me and said, ‘I feel all that s**t you talking about. I want to k*ll somebody too. But you got to go to the hospital.”
Jackson had to undergo lip surgery without anaesthesia. It went on for two hours, and Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle and Jackson’s then-girlfriend held his hands through it. For his involvement in the incident, Jackson was charged with one felony count of criminal recklessness. He received one year of probation, a $5,000 fine, and 100 hours of community service. The NBA suspended him for the first seven games of the 2007-08 NBA season.
Following the incident, Carlisle said:
“Stephen is very lucky. It was a potential life-threatening situation that was averted. And right now, the biggest emotion I feel is relief that he’s going to be OK.”
Incidents like these explain why the NBA has a no-tolerance policy for players putting themselves in harm’s way. Morant’s 25-game suspension was a result of the league having to deal with players’ reckless behaviour in the past that could have led to catastrophic outcomes.
