Stephen Jackson offers disturbing Malice in Palace quote

Stephen Jackson may be the NBA's most honest player.

Sometimes, we wish he weren't.

ESPN's Chris Palmer has an extensive Q&A with the San Antonio Spurs swingman, who is out right now with a broken finger. In it, Jackson discusses his rap career, Shaquille O'Neal, the immeasurably fun 2007 Golden State Warriors and more.

"More" being the Malice in the Palace, the infamous fight that broke out between Jackson's Indiana Pacers and the Detroit Pistons in Auburn Hills, Mich., on Nov. 19, 2004. That fight escalated and wound up in the stands, where Ron Artest (now Metta World Peace) and Jackson fought with Pistons fans.

And, well, we'll let Jackson speak for himself on this one:

When I hit that fan, I definitely enjoyed it — until that fine came down. That $3 million I lost killed me. It brought me back to reality because I could have lost my job.

It was wild because it had never been done before. And it will never happen again so, yeah, adrenaline was flowing. How many people can say that they've punched a fan? ...

Just because we make a lot of money we're supposed to be the bigger person? Fans tell us that our kids are ugly and that they should have thrown our mothers in jail for having us. That's not disrespectful?

Right. We understand where he's coming from because fans certainly can be obnoxious. But those kinds of quotes don't make the NBA the most inviting place.

Later in the interview, he talks about shooting up a car in a strip-club incident involving former Pacers teammate Jamaal Tinsley.

Jackson, for his part, does say he regrets the hefty fine he received. He was one of nine players suspended, losing 30 games, second only to Artest.

But does he regret helping his teammate?

"No," Jackson says. "Because the idea of Ron laying in the stands unconscious with all his teeth knocked out … no way. That whole arena was against and I didn't have it in my heart not to do anything.

H/T @HPBasketball