On May 17, 2004, the Sacramento Kings defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 104-87 in Game 6 of the Western Conference Semifinals to force a decisive Game 7. But while the scoreboard told one story, the moment that has lived on most vividly in the collective memory of NBA fans wasn’t the Kings’ performance — it was the altercation between two former teammates: Anthony Peeler and Kevin Garnett.
Peeler, then a veteran reserve guard for the Kings, and Garnett, the reigning league MVP leading the Timberwolves to their best season in franchise history, became embroiled in a tense and physical confrontation that stunned fans, rattled players, and served as one of the most unforgettable incidents of that postseason. What began as subtle jostling escalated into Peeler landing an open-hand elbow and then an unmistakable punch to Garnett’s jaw, an act that would earn Peeler a two-game suspension and would leave Garnett boiling with fury. The moment was a snapshot of everything that playoff basketball can bring out — the passion, the pressure, the personal — and it still lingers in NBA lore more than two decades later.
Tensions had been building throughout the 2004 series. The Timberwolves, behind Garnett’s MVP brilliance and the steady veteran presence of Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell, had finally climbed over the first-round hump that had haunted them for years. They finished the regular season 58-24, tops in the Western Conference. Meanwhile, the Kings — led by Chris Webber, Mike Bibby, and Peja Stojaković — were still chasing the elusive title that had barely slipped through their fingers in previous years, most notably in 2002 against the Lakers.
Coming into Game 6, the Timberwolves held a 3-2 series lead and had a chance to close things out in Sacramento. But the Kings were not going quietly. The raucous Arco Arena crowd was behind them, and their intensity on the floor reflected the desperation of a team facing elimination. As the Kings built their lead and Minnesota’s season-long hopes of a Finals run began to flicker, emotions reached a boiling point — and in the third quarter, it all unraveled in one unforgettable moment.
With under three minutes left in the third quarter, Garnett and Peeler became tangled up near the sideline. Words were exchanged, arms were thrown, and as Garnett turned slightly, Peeler delivered a left elbow to Garnett’s midsection. Garnett responded by pushing Peeler, and then, in a blink, Peeler followed with a right-handed punch to Garnett’s face.
The arena erupted. The referees quickly intervened, teammates rushed in, and players from both sides had to be separated. Garnett, visibly stunned and furious, had to be held back by several Timberwolves players and staff. Peeler was immediately ejected. The slow-motion replay of the punch, shown again and again on the broadcast, left little doubt about the intent. It wasn’t a shove, or a slap — it was a closed-fist punch to the face, right in front of thousands of fans and a national television audience.
For Peeler, it was a shocking departure from the usually cool demeanor he’d displayed during his career. A former first-round pick out of Missouri in 1992, Peeler was nearing the end of a solid NBA run that had included stops with the Lakers, Grizzlies, Timberwolves, and Kings. Ironically, he had played alongside Garnett in Minnesota from 1997 to 2003, helping the team reach the playoffs in each of those seasons. While the two had reportedly had a decent relationship as teammates, their paths had clearly diverged by 2004, and any lingering tension seemed to erupt in that Game 6 confrontation.
After the game, both players were restrained in their postgame comments. Peeler refused to directly address the incident, saying only, “It was physical out there. Things got heated.” Garnett, still visibly seething, brushed it off with, “I ain’t got nothing to say about that. We’ll see what happens in Game 7.” But the NBA had plenty to say — and quickly.
The league handed down a two-game suspension to Peeler, meaning he would miss the all-important Game 7 and the first game of the next season, should the Kings advance. Garnett, who retaliated with an elbow of his own moments after the initial punch, was fined but not suspended — a decision that drew criticism from some corners but was largely justified by the league as appropriate given the circumstances and escalation. Peeler had thrown the first — and only — punch.
With Peeler out and the Kings rattled, the Timberwolves returned home and clinched the series in Game 7, 83-80, despite Garnett nearly collapsing from exhaustion. The MVP delivered one of the finest games of his career, scoring 32 points, grabbing 21 rebounds, and blocking five shots in 46 grueling minutes. It was his redemption not only for Game 6 but for nearly a decade of postseason heartbreak. Minnesota advanced to its first — and to date, only — Western Conference Finals, where they eventually fell to the Los Angeles Lakers.
For Sacramento, the Peeler punch symbolized the beginning of the end of an era. The Kings would not return to the playoffs the following season, and their core gradually disbanded. Webber was traded in 2005, Stojaković was dealt in 2006, and the Kings spiraled into a long period of rebuilding. Peeler’s NBA career effectively ended with the suspension; he never played another game after the 2004 season.
Looking back, the punch is still a subject of fascination. It pops up in “NBA Bad Blood” highlight reels and is often replayed during retrospectives of Garnett’s career or the Kings’ playoff history. While the act itself was regrettable, its impact was undeniable — it lit a fire under Garnett, galvanized the Timberwolves, and shifted the momentum of the series. It was a reminder of how volatile and emotional playoff basketball can be, and how quickly things can change with a single moment of lost composure.
Over the years, Garnett rarely spoke about the incident in depth, though in a 2019 interview, he referenced it obliquely, saying, “The playoffs bring out the dog in people. Some people bite harder than others.” Peeler, for his part, remained largely silent on the punch, though he briefly alluded to it during a coaching stint in college basketball, saying, “I let my emotions get the best of me, and I paid the price.”
Twenty-one years later, the NBA has changed in many ways — stricter rules, more surveillance, quicker interventions — but the memory of that Game 6 incident remains. In a league where every moment is documented, dissected, and digitally immortalized, Peeler’s punch is both a cautionary tale and a bizarre footnote to one of the most competitive playoff series of the early 2000s.
It was a rare moment of raw emotion spilling over into violence on the court, and it has never fully faded from memory. For fans of that era, it’s hard to forget the sight of Anthony Peeler, eyes cold, jaw clenched, swinging at one of the most intimidating players the NBA has ever seen. It was unexpected, shocking, and for better or worse, unforgettable.
As the anniversary rolls around once again, the story stands as a vivid example of just how intense the stakes can be in the NBA playoffs — and how sometimes, history is made not with a buzzer-beater or a triple-double, but with a single, jarring punch.