Former NBA champion Rick Fox was involved in a physical altercation with another man at a campaign event on Wednesday, April 29, amid his run for a seat in the Bahamas’ House of Assembly.
The incident was captured on video and shows Fox, 56, having an argument with somebody off camera who was trying to get him to move his campaign’s tent. When Fox asked what rules he was breaking by staging his event where it was, the man replied, “I don’t give a f*** about no rules.”
At that point, Fox appeared to lunge at the man and had to be held back by his staff. The video also shows Fox shoving his campaign manager away as he tried to contain the former Los Angeles Lakers star.
“That context is not in that video,” Fox told reporters the next day. “But I will tell you, some people are used to, this time of year, being bullies. And we’re not standing for that. We’re not standing for that.”
He continued, “And if you’re going to swear and threaten people’s lives and say you’re going to your car to get something, then I’m going to react. I’m going to defend my team, I’m going to defend myself and I’m going to defend anybody that is in the area, quite frankly, because that was a dangerous situation.”
“The police got on the scene, and they handled that, and that gentleman has been charged,” Fox claimed.
Fox told TMZ Sports that the individual allegedly threatened both his and his campaign manager’s lives.
“The opposition party that is in power are notorious for victimizing and bullying Bahamians,” he said. “But I’ve been standing up to them.”
Fox likened it to his role as an enforcer in the NBA — someone who protects their teammates by committing hard fouls, setting hard screens or otherwise intimidating opponents.
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“I stood up to the bully no different than my basketball career when I was the enforcer,” he said. “Someone threatens a teammate’s life or threatens my life, I will defend to the death if necessary.”
Fox was born in Canada but raised in the Bahamas, where he lived until college when he attended the University of North Carolina. He then played 13 seasons in the NBA between the Boston Celtics and the Lakers, winning three championships with L.A. during its dynasty from 2000 to 2002.
Fox announced his intention to seek office in November 2025 as a member of the Free National Movement, the Bahamas’ center-right political party. The election will be held on May 12.
