With the invisible barrier between fans and players shattered as of Friday's NBA brawl, league commissioner David Stern wants to rebuild the wall while keeping it inobtrusive.

"The reality is that our society and our arenas exist based upon a social contract," Stern told a news conference Sunday in New York.

"Everyone knows that if 20,000 fans decided to go on a rampage, we'd have a serious problem on our hands, no matter what we did."

The NBA is planning on reviewing policies ranging from arena security to alcohol sales in response to one of the worst brawls in the league's history.

The facts are as follows:

• There was less than one minute left in the Nov. 19 game between the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers at Joe Louis Arena in Auburn Hills, Mich.
• Indiana's Ron Artest committed a hard foul on Detroit's Ben Wallace, who was driving to Indiana's basket.
• Wallace shoved Artest. After their scuffle, Artest wound up lying on his back on the scoring table.
• A blue plastic beer cup sailed out of the stands and hit Artest -- one of the league's most volatile personalities -- in the face. He charged into the stands to find his tormenter.
• Pacer Stephen Jackson also went into the stands and punched another fan in the face.
  Yet another fan sucker-punched Artest from behind.
• Pacer Jermaine O'Neil struck a fan on the court and had a chair thrown at him.

Artest was suspended for the remainder of the season -- a total of 73 games. Jackson was suspended for 30 games and O'Neil for 25 games. Pacers guards Anthony Johnson and Reggie Miller were suspended for five and one games respectively.

Wallace was suspended for six games. The Pistons' Elden Campbell, Derrick Coleman and Chauncey Billups were suspended for one game each.

"It really hurt me to see the children crying on TV, and I think about how it could have been my own kids. I also regret and apologize to fans who were upset by what happened," Artest said Monday in a statement.

However, Artest didn't explain why he lost his cool.

Stern said, "I can't rule out his previous history" when arriving at a penalty, noting Artest had previously been suspended for incidents involved a loss of self-control.

Billy Hunter of the NBA players' union said the suspensions would likely be appealed.

But part of the equation was the fans' actions.

In the Detroit case, local police and prosecutors are reviewing game tapes to help determine if charges should be laid.

"We must redefine the bounds of acceptable conduct for fans attending our games and resolve to permanently exclude those who overstep those bounds. Participants in and around the court must be assured complete protection from unacceptable fan behavior," Stern said.

One Swedish journalist at Stern's news conference asked if he'd be open to some of the solutions employed in Europe.

Apparently fan violence is an even bigger problem in Europe. In some case, teams there played in front of empty arenas and stadiums as the fans were kept out as punishment.

One solution Stern didn't favour was the construction of a barrier between the stands and the court.

"You know (basketball players) are called 'cagers' because the games use to be played behind cages," he said.

"It would not be my plan to be commissioner of a league that ... required players and fans to be separated. That would be an unacceptable result."

Of all the major pro sports, NBA fans are physically closest to the players.

While the league has made it clear behaviour like Friday's debacle won't be tolerated, some of basketball's biggest personalities were defending the players.

"Anytime a fan touches you, you have the right to beat the hell out of him," former NBA player Charles Barkley said. "I am a man, I am not going to let anyone disrespect me."

On Saturday, Vince Carter of the Toronto Raptors told CFTO News: "If you were walking down the street and someone threw a beer at you, would you walk away?"

Donyell Marshall, another Raptor, said: "My feeling is there is only so much you can take. I mean I don't think it's fair that a fan can do anything he wants. That's like saying a fan can spit in your face and you ain't supposed to do nothing."

"Fans can be tough, especially when you are on the road. Places like Detroit can push (players like Artest) to his limits and I guess he snapped," said Raptor Matt Bonner.

While taunting can reach the point of viciousness, most players learn to live with it even though they may hate it.

And even when cases like objects being tossed have happened, things haven't escalated.

"Normally in those situations, you have officials say, 'You and you are gone. Get off the floor right now,' and the thing goes away," Pistons CEO Tom Wilson told The Associated Press. "For whatever reason, that didn't happen, and the league will look into that."

With a report from CTV's Scott Laurie and files from The Associated Press