How was he gonna play when the brawl was going on? And Artest was trying to stay out of fighting, until the fan threw the cup at him.
Compare Artest's conduct in light of his past behavior and what 99% of NBA players would do when things get heated. They'd be restrained and go back to their bench. Laying on the scorer's table is egging on the Detroit players and fans. This does not excuse throwing anything at him, lest I be tarred and feathered as some sort of apologist.
I agree, the cup never should have been thrown, but artest was egging it on. Is it just me or does trouble follow artest wherever he goes???? And then to bust into the stands throwing punches, followed by steven jackson throwing punches. It only escalated everything. Like the fans are gonna stand there and take that crap. No one was right, but the pacers never should have gone into the stands. Jackson should get the biggest punishment followed by artest. Then wallace for the push that got everything going, although artest didn't need to make a hard foul late in a decided game.
As I previously said, was only commenting on the "how" issue. On second thought though, maybe he agitated those who paid to see the game AND those that paid to see a fight.