One of the most violent situations recorded in NBA history was Kermit Washington’s powerful punch to his colleague on the other side of the line, Rudy Tomjanovich.

Exactly on December 9, 1977, during the match between the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets, a fight broke out between Abdul-Jabbar of the Lakers and Kevin Kunnert of the Rockets, but they were not the main characters.

When Rockets’ Rudy Tomjanovich was approaching to stop the fight, he was suddenly punched in the face by opponent Kermit Washington. Being suddenly attacked, the 2m03 tall player fell to the floor in a pool of blood.

Doctors later concluded that Kermit Washington’s punch caused the bone structure of Rudy Tomjanovich’s face to separate from the skull, causing concussion, a broken jaw, a broken nose, and blood and spinal cord fluid leaking into the skull. . Even the clear liquid in the spine had flowed into Tomjanovich’s mouth and he could… taste it!

Washington’s talent cannot be denied when he was the 5th name selected in the 1973 NBA Draft, but a brutal punch four years later caused this pioneer’s career to plummet.

Teams were not very interested in this player born in 1951, until Washington retired in 1987 without leaving too many professional marks. After hanging up his shoes, this 2m03 tall man tried hard to get a job on the coaching staff but was constantly rejected.

Teams from the NBA, G-League to University and High School levels are all shy when mentioning the name Kermit Washington. Having been rejected too much, Kermit Washington began to make his mark with volunteer work, as an effort to regain his image in the eyes of his fans.

In August 1994, Kermit Washington accompanied a group of doctors and nurses on a humanitarian mission in the Goma refugee camp, Zaire. “It was a tragic scene that I will never forget in my life,” the former Lakers striker shared after the trip.

Shortly after that first trip, Kermit Washington began to rely on volunteer images, and took advantage of the reputation of a former NBA player to call on people to donate to the Project Contact Africa (PCA) charity fund run by he is the founder.

However, in mid-2016, police in Kansas discovered in a comprehensive investigation that $500,000 of PCA’s money was transferred to Kermit Washington’s personal account. Instead of going to poor African children, Kermit used the money for personal spending activities such as buying jewelry, cars, traveling and buying expensive clothes, etc.

No amount of excuses can assuage the outrage of donors. On December 4, 2017, the then 66-year-old man was convicted by the court of three crimes: aggravated theft, false declaration to evade taxes, and using charity funds to launder money. Washington was sentenced to 6 years in federal prison, with a release date of August 18, 2023.