"When a fistfight broke out between the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Lakers one night in 1977, All-Star Rudy Tomjanovich raced to break it up. He was met by Kermit Washington, a good player with a great reputation, and by an astonishingly ferocious punch, a single blow that has reverberated in both men's lives ever since. " "The punch dislodged Tomjanovich's skull and nearly killed him. Neither man was ever quite the same again. The consequences of this single act of aggression are still being felt, affecting not only two lives but the game of basketball itself. Now Tomjanovich has won two NBA titles as head coach of the Rockets, and in 2000 he coached the U. S. Olympic men's basketball team to a gold medal. In the years since the fight, Washington has had one difficulty after another, his life haunted and shaped by that single moment. "--BOOK JACKET.