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Doug Christie Uppercuts Rick Fox. October 25, 2002 - In their first meeting since their Conference Finals matchup the season prior, the Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Lakers engaged in fisticuffs on the final day of the 2002 NBA preseason. The skirmish initially began between Lakers forward Rick Fox and Kings guard Doug Christie. Years later, Fox reflected on the conflict in Jeff Pearlman’s book, “Three Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty“ (pg. 278). “[Christie] was all up in my shit,“ Fox said. “I was like, ’Ugh, dude, come on. Back up a little. It’s just preseason. Chill.“ Unwilling to cede ground, Fox appeared to escalate the conflict with a preemptive strike to Christie’s face. “The last thing I wanted,“ Fox said, “was Doug Christie thinking he had the upper hand.“ After their ejections, Fox ran through the Staples Center hallway to meet Christie and continue fighting. The Kings’ bench and an injured Shaquille O’Neal rushed to intervene and attempt to restore order, but not before Fox attempted to land a jump kick to Christie’s upper torso, albeit unsuccessfully. “Doug caught my foot as I hit his chest,“ Fox said. “So now he’s holding my foot and I’m hopping around on one foot and a Kings security guard starts grabbing me and Doug’s wife [Jackie] is swinging her purse. Doug is taking swings at my body, I have him in a headlock, the Staples Center security guards come in and grab me, trying to separate us. But in grabbing me they’re giving Doug all these free shots at me. I’m backed up into the rear of the bleachers, it’s not going very well...“ Just then, O’Neal is reported to have arrived on the scene to help restore order. Fox was eventually suspended for six games while Christie received a two game suspension for his actions.
