Straight Right Hand

December 9, 1977 - The Rockets are playing the Lakers at the Forum in Inglewood. A brawl breaks out. Houston forward Rudy Tomjanovich rushes to the fray, and Laker Kermit Washington wheels around and hits him with the Hammer of Thor. A second later, the Forum is eerily silent, while Rudy T lays on the hardcourt in a pool of blood. Unbeknownst to everyone, including the unconscious Rudy, spinal fluid is now leaking into his mouth. In the next few hours, he will come perilously close to death.

Not surprisingly, Rudy T. missed the rest of the season, but he made a full recovery, although the damage to his jaw and face required upwards of six surgeries. Kermit Washington received what was then the longest suspension in league history, 60 games (Ron Artest got him off the schneid on that one), and was unfairly remembered ever afterward as a thug.

To take nothing away from the severity of this tragedy and the havoc it wrought in both of these men's lives, still, we here at No Mas can't help commenting that it makes us think that Kermit Washington was definitely in the wrong sport. Rudy T. said afterwards of "The Punch" that at the moment of impact, he thought a scoreboard had fallen on him. That's a punch right there. Old Kerm definitely should have been in the ring if he had that kind of power. That's Tommy Hearns-type shit.

Tomjanovich has long made it clear that he completely forgives Washington. The two became friends of sorts while John Feinstein was writing his book, The Punch, which by all accounts is pretty half-ass. I can't say, because I haven't read it, but this excerpt seems pretty good.