[Djangoman2k]

So I recently heard of this old incident in a basketball game where Kermit Washington punched Rudy Tojanovich so hard it dislocated his skull, shattered his jaw, and caused cerebrospinal fluid to leak into his mouth and nose. Doctors said it was the equivalent of hitting a windshield at 50 mph. here's one of many articles I've found on it.

http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1376655

This is insane. Anyone see this happen? Any old scholl basketball fans on here?

[Mithra]

This is what happens when a huge man hits an older guy directly in the face when the guy has no idea it is coming...

I believe his mouth was almost certainly open(trying to get players to stop fighting), he was in the process of turning around when he was hit and there were no gloves.

[JMart]

I think it was John Feinstein who wrote "The Punch", a whole book dedicated to the incident. If I recall correctly, Tomjanovich was playing for the San Diego Rockets (before the moved) and I can't remember who Washington played for. I do know that Washington was banned for life from the NBA. He did apologize to Tomjanovich.

Tomjanovich has said he thought the scoreboard landed on him. But no, it was the punch. I remember seeing the footage one time. Apparently, Tomjanovich wanted to fight Washington despite being seriously hurt (ie - he got up immediately despite the damage and went after Washington). My guess is that was the adrenaline talking.

[Mithra]

He played for the Houston Rockets, not the San Diego Rockets...

[Dos Dos]

I've seen the footage several times but it the quality is old and grainy. And I don't recall any sound. Huge punch. Huge cheapshot.

[JMart]

Originally Posted by Mithra

He played for the Houston Rockets, not the San Diego Rockets...

Rudy Tomjanovich played for the franchise prior to their move to Houston from the original city in San Diego. He eventually led Houston to the 1994 and 1995 NBA Championships.

Tomjanovich was running towards Washington while Washington's back was turned to him. Tomjanovich was gonig to break up a fight, and when Washington saw Tomjanovich running towards him, he swung and hit him in defense.

EDIT: Here's the link from Wikipedia about the incident: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudy_Tomjanovich

Tomjanovich was selected in the 1970 NBA Draft as the second overall pick by the San Diego Rockets (the franchise relocated to Houston in 1971), for whom he would play the entirety of his NBA career.

Despite Tomjanovich's noteworthy career as a player, it is perhaps best remembered for an unfortunate incident not of his own making. In a game on December 9, 1977, the Los Angeles Lakers' Kermit Washington threw a brutal punch which broke Tomjanovich's jaw and face and inflicted life-threatening head injuries, leaving him sidelined for five months. He eventually made a full recovery. In his eleven years in the NBA, Tomjanovich had a scoring average of 17.4 points and a rebounding average of 8.1, earning five NBA All-Star Game selections in the process (1974-1977, 1979). He is the third-leading scorer in Rockets history behind Hall of Famers Calvin Murphy and Hakeem Olajuwon.

The Rockets retired Tomjanovich's #45 jersey upon the conclusion of his playing career. His collegiate jersey, also #45, was retired by the University of Michigan in 2003.

[Soma]

[coopdro]

That's friggin crazy. Getting blind sided is never fun. I was victim to a pretty bad blind shot a couple months ago in an event that I had no part of. Glad I didn't have leaking spinal fluids.

[Mithra]

I understand the rockets were originally in San Diego, I was just trying to point out that at the time of the punch it was the Houston Rockets.

[JMart]

Aw, geez. My apologies man. I understand what you mean. My fault.