That being said, LeBron James taking a full on swing at Isaiah Stewart in the third quarter of a game that Stewart’s Detroit Pistons were threatening to run away with means some extra family time later this week.
James and Stewart were fighting in the paint for position on a Detroit free throw attempt by Jerami Grant. James got his elbow up high, making contact with Stewart in the face. Replays quickly showed it was not the elbow, but rather a closed fist in a backhand motion once the elbow missed.
Stewart crouched to a knee and Lebron started to walk towards him to check in. Stewart then rose up and got into James’ face. It took half of the Pistons’ coaching staff and most of the players on the court to restrain Stewart from going right at James.
The Pistons forward/center was seen barking at Laker players Wayne Ellington and Russell Westbrook, breaking away from being restrained by his own coaches multiple times. Even top overall draft pick Cade Cunningham could not contain Stewart, who had blood streaming down the side of his face from a cut opened by James’ fist.
James was assessed a Flagrant 2 foul, which is an immediate rejection. Stewart received a pair of technical fouls, which meant an early shower as well.
As ugly as this was, the fact that James only received a one game suspension for the instigating act, while Stewart received two games shows how protected certain players in the league are.
To his credit, James could not really be seen anywhere near Stewart or the mass of bodies that came together after the initial dust-up. Stewart turned into a raving lunatic.
Many on social media have already deemed James as “LeRon Artest James” in the immediate aftermath, a direct reference to the Indiana Pacers star who initiated “The Malice At The Palace” for a hard foul against the Pistons.
Navy and gold...royal purple and gold...it’s almost the same for someone like me who is colorblind.
Westbrook certainly did not help by barking at Stewart from the edge of the scrum. In fact, when Stewart broke away the second time, it was Westbrook who was in his sights, rather than James who made the initial punch. Remember that Westbrook barking at Darius Bazley dunking with two seconds remaining in the Thunder’s 122-115 win over the Lakers on 27 October started a scrum that got him tossed, much to the delight of the fans he left behind to chase rings.
The Pistons are 4-12 and likely to be in the Draft Lottery for the next few years during their rebuild. The Lakers have the fourth-highest payroll in the NBA and are trying to squeeze a few more title runs out of LeBron, as he lies only 2,848 points behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the NBA record. LeBron should pass Karl Malone in the coming weeks, as he is only 461 behind for second place.
Both James and Stewart will have returned in time for the Pistons to head to Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles for the rematch on Sunday night.
This marked the first time in James’ illustrious career that he has been suspended for a game. His first ejection did not come until his second go-around with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2015, over 15 years into the league.
What would have happened if Stewart got to James? Would the league have hammered a star for instigating a brawl, like they did when Artest went into the stands?
Then again, who in their right mind would ever try to step to LeBron, even when he turns 37 next month?
-JC24