A brawl broke loose between players from the visiting Liaoning Flying Leopards and fans of the Sichuan Blue Whales after Game 3 of the Chinese Basketball Association Finals recently.
According to Nick Bedard, editor-in-chief of basketballbuddha.com, the free-for-all happened outside the hotel where the Leopards are staying and were welcomed by a throng of Sichuan supporters.
Bedard posted a video of the melee on his YouTube account. The video shows a man wearing a red jacket, who just alighted a bus carrying players from Liaoning, mocking a group of Sichuan fans that appeared to have sparked a heated commotion.
The situation escalated quickly with several fights erupting in different groups which lasted longer than it should’ve been as security was nowhere to be seen — at least in the four-minute video — until after hot heads had cooled off.
Despite the ugly scuffle, the series resumed as scheduled with Sichuan, which won Game 3, 109-104, repeating over Liaoning, 96-87, just couple of days removed from the fight.
The Blue Whales went on to win their first CBA championship with a 94-91 victory in Game 5 on Sunday.