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How One Punch Changed Professional Sports
[color=var(--byline-contributor-color)][color=var(--byline-byText-color)]ByABC News[color=var(--byline-affiliate-separator-color)] [color=var(--byline-contributorLink-color)]
[color=var(--dateTime-regular-color)]December 9, 2002, 9:38 AM
Dec. 9 -- In one night, a single confrontation changed the lives of two professional basketball players — and their sport — forever.
They were two men living out their dreams of playing professional basketball. Kermit Washington, 26, grew up in inner-city Washington, D.C., and was a power forward for the Los Angeles Lakers, playing alongside star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Rudy Tomjanovich, 29, from blue collar Detroit, was an All-Star forward for the Houston Rockets.
On Dec. 9, 1977, the two men's lives collided. There was a fight on the basketball court at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif. Tomjanovich rushed to the aid of teammate Kevin Kunnert, who had tussled first with Abdul-Jabbar, then with Washington.
Tomjanovich ran up right behind Washington, who turned around to deliver a nearly fatal right-hand punch to Tomjanovich's face that knocked him to the floor, leaving him in a pool of blood.
Basketball was a tougher, more physical game then. But since that one punch, the NBA and other professional sports organizations began cracking down on fighting with penalties for players. John Feinstein has written a book called The Punch, which chronicles what happened that night, and the impact it had on both men's lives.
Blow Was Nearly Fatal
On that night, Washington said that he just reacted, throwing the punch without knowing who was coming toward him.
"I saw something from the corner of my eye — it was Rudy running at me 100 miles an hour," Washington said. "And I swung and that was a mistake that I made in judgment."
Tomjanovich, who crumpled to the floor, almost died that night of injuries that were akin to being thrown from a car going 50 miles per hour. His skull was dislocated and spinal fluid was leaking from his brain. He recalled being able to taste the fluid in his mouth.
The punch, captured in a horrifying video clip that has been shown countless times, became one of the most frightening moments in NBA history.
"Hollywood couldn't have made an uglier monster," Washington said. "I could sort of see myself in there, but it wasn't me."
12 月 9 日——一個晚上，一場對抗永遠改變了兩名職業籃球運動員的生活以及他們的運動。
他們是兩個實現職業籃球夢想的人。26 歲的克米特華盛頓(Kermit Washington) 在華盛頓特區市中心長大，曾是洛杉磯湖人隊的大前鋒，與球星卡里姆阿卜杜勒賈巴爾(Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) 並肩作戰。魯迪湯姆賈諾維奇 (Rudy Tomjanovich)，29 歲，來自底特律藍領階層，曾是休士頓火箭隊的全明星前鋒。
1977年12月9日，兩人的人生發生了碰撞。加州英格爾伍德論壇籃球場上發生了一場打架。湯姆賈諾維奇衝向隊友凱文·昆納特，他先是與阿卜杜勒·賈巴爾發生爭執，然後又與華盛頓發生爭執。
湯姆賈諾維奇跑到華盛頓身後，華盛頓轉身對湯姆賈諾維奇的臉打出幾乎致命的右手一拳，將他擊倒在地，讓他倒在血泊中。
那時的籃球是一項更辛苦、更需要體力的運動。但自從那一拳之後，NBA和其他職業運動組織開始透過對球員的處罰來打擊鬥毆行為。約翰范斯坦寫了一本名為《重拳》的書，記錄了那天晚上發生的事情，以及它對兩人生活的影響。
打擊幾乎致命
那天晚上，華盛頓說他只是做出了反應，在不知道是誰向他走來的情況下揮出了一拳。
「我用眼角的餘光看到了一些東西——那是魯迪以每小時 100 英里的速度向我跑來，」華盛頓說。“我揮桿了，這是我判斷上的一個錯誤。”
那天晚上，湯姆賈諾維奇癱倒在地板上，差點因受傷而死亡，就像從時速 50 英里的汽車上摔下來一樣。他的頭骨脫臼，脊髓液從他的大腦漏出。他記得能夠嚐到嘴裡液體的味道。
這一拳被記錄在一段恐怖的影片片段中，並被播放了無數次，成為NBA歷史上最可怕的時刻之一。
「好萊塢不可能製造出比這更醜陋的怪物了，」華盛頓說。“我可以看到自己在那裡，但那不是我。”
