U.S. District Judge George B. Daniels made permanent his temporary decision last week that let O'Neal play even though he has not served all of the 25-game suspension imposed by NBA commissioner David Stern.
The NBA had challenged arbitrator Roger Kaplan's authority to hear an appeal of Stern's punishment. Kaplan had reduced the penalty to 15 games, citing O'Neal's "character, community involvement and citizenship."
O'Neal, whose team is scheduled to play at the New Jersey Nets Thursday night, sat quietly in a front-row wooden bench as lawyers and the judge portrayed the fight during the Nov. 19 Pacers-Detroit Pistons game as unprecedented.
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