Lakers superstar LeBron James was suspended one game without pay and Pistons center Isaiah Stewart will serve a two-game suspension for their altercation on Sunday, the league announced in a press release.
James was suspended for recklessly hitting Stewart in the face and initiating an on-court altercation. Stewart was given a bigger penalty for escalating the incident by repeatedly and aggressively pursuing James in an unsportsmanlike manner.
Stewart had to be restrained numerous times by coaches and players from retaliating after James struck him in the face battling for position as Jerami Grant attempted a free throw. Pistons coach Dwane Casey stated afterward he didn’t feel Stewart deserved an additional penalty besides the in-game ejection.
James, who has never previously been suspended his career, will miss a marquee matchup against the Knicks on Tuesday. Stewart will serve his suspension Tuesday against the Heat and Wednesday against the Bucks.
Praying
“praying”
I don’t know why this pathetic altercation involves prayer. These two gumps got what they deserved. Actually LeBron probably should have received more but the rich and famous always get treated better. No different than the standard American criminal justice system…
I saw a flagrant one foul and nothing more the other player deserve to be kicked out of the game and a suspension crazy
Casor_greener > That was he pray for.lebron should have received more.but he is silver’s golden boy.. i know he is great player,but this is a joke.shame on i silver
completely insane
how
bron held his arm down and punched him square in the face
stewart didnt touch anyone
If you look closely at the replay Lebron is looking the other direction, and his sweaty arm is pushing hard on Stewarts sweaty arm.
It looks like Lebrons arm slips off the top of Stewarts and immediately hits him hard.
I actually think it was a total accident and it looked like that from the first replay.
No F’ing way, dude.
You must be a lebron fan. No one in basketball swings his arm after missing with his elbow. He hammered down with his fist. He mad cause his over paid old team is in last place and have lost to Detroit twice and it was about to happen again… lebron should of got two games. League is to much for that guy
I like his basketball talent. Not really a huge fan of Lebron or the Lakers. In fact I have been very much enjoying them sputter.
Doesnt change the fact that watching it live on my large 4k it looks like Stewart is holding his hand back and then it slips. They are arm against arm the arm slips and swings, the elbow misses, and the arm continues to swing so the hand connects. Probably cut by a nail since his hand wasnt completely closed, and was swinging behind his back while the hand was facing forward.
Lebron can be a tool at times like giving up mid game to let his team 4 on 5 when he doesnt cross half court arguing with the refs.
I still think he didnt mean to do this Stewart was just under pressure getting squeezed from both sides. At first Bron seems to try to immediately react like he unintentionally did it.
LOL
Agree. Missed in all this is Stewart was called for a regular foul for pushing LBJ in the back. LBJ is trying to get him off. Stewart is somewhat hunched over. LBJ swings his arms and makes contact. If Stewart is upright, it hits him in the shoulders. It wasn’t intentional. None the less, NBA still needs to try to stop players from swinging their elbows. Stewart was crazy out of control. This street mentality that you need to protect yourself is BS. If a player says my bad, then why is it so hard to understand in this game that sometimes you just might get hit unintentionally? Put your big boy pants on and grow up.
Elbow’s can be accidental. Back of the hard ouch to the face doesn’t accidentally happen.
Last I checked, a punch involves the use of a fist…you can’t punch someone with your elbow which is the part of James arm that hit Stewart, not his fist. What’s the point in just making things up?
So LeBron starts this whole altercation but gets the lesser punishment NBA treating him like a God
He can’t afford more than 1 game without pay, otherwise it would have been longer. Also, he’ll probably need 3-5 games off anyway, for his hand to heal, so the league figured there was no need for a harsher penalty.
Nah, James disengaged from the situation immediately. Stewart kept the whole thing going in a deranged manner far beyond what was warranted. He put other people, players, coaches, refs at risk of injury. That’s why he got 2 games and James got 1.
Good thing he disengaged. Would have gotten his azz beat.
Garbage league
This is BS .James should get one more than Stewart for starting it
James gets one game for busting Stewart open and Stewart gets two for bleeding on James…
LBJ shouldn’t be suspended he didn’t do anything wrong, if you guys ever played hoops in your life, you would know people gets hit by accident, like all the time, it happens…
Now Stewart should be banned for at least 8-10 the guy behaved like a total maniac, he seems a bit deranged & dangerous out there, just get rid of him!
Accidental hits boxing someone out for a rebound don’t usually require eight stitches. Some ooompf was put into it.
If you look closely at the replay Lebron is looking the other direction, and his sweaty arm is pushing hard on Stewarts sweaty arm. It looks like Lebrons arm slips off the top of Stewarts and immediately hits him hard. I actually think it was a total accident and it looked like that from the first replay. I think Stewart should get a pass for wild’n’out since he got hit hard and was bleeding. Its hard to stay composed when you take a shot in the face, and worse if you think they did it on purpose.
Where did you get your blinders? I have a horse that needs new ones.
El Don is a Laker fan so of course hw will make lame excuses. If it ws the other way around Don would be saying Stewart should be suspended till the end of the season.
Then you dont know basketball or havent played
Please tell us more about your personal basketball prowess, message board commenter.
There’s a difference in getting bumped in basketball to getting hit in the face!
Isiah’s bump to lebron’s ribs as he was going in for the rebound is a basketball bump that you’re speaking of.
Lebron retaliating by punching is not basketball play. Not saying Lebron knew he was hitting him in the face, but it was clearly a punch.
If Lebron got hit like that imagine the reaction.
He went crazy when he got poked in the eye in the play-in game.
Found Lebrons account on here.
Wrong … Stewart should be suspended because his face got in the way of Lebron’s fist.
El Don is an El Homer
Don’t blame Stewart for his reaction at all, LeBuns should get a bigger suspension just for the hit. No reason to do it then he says something and runs away…. just glad it wasn’t the other way around I guess, they’d suspend Stewart for the season and let Buns walk free
Any other player would have gotten more. For years LeBron has gotten away with illegal picks that pose a danger to other players. He is such an imposing force on the court it is easy to say things were unintentional, that can happen when you are insanely strong. However, the rules generally are about the risks posed rather than the intent. The more you literally throw your weight around, the more likely it is to cause serious injury. While LBJ is clearly a gifted athlete, he also is bigger and more muscular than much of the league, and with that should come some recognition that restraint is required. This was so obvious and in a closely watched play that it could not be given the superstar waiver treatment that he often receives.
Embiid got upset last week in a similar ‘unintentional’ foul where he nearly punched Lonzo Ball in the face. Big guys have to be responsible on the court to keep from ending smaller players’ careers.
Embiid swing was way different than the James punch.
Isaiah Thomas on NBA TV just stated that Stewart should’ve immediately swung at James . Not ask why he did it and then when he feels that he’s bleeding go nuts he should’ve swan right away
Funny bcuz Isiah had the same thing happen against utah. Look it up. He started choking an assistant coach.
Just another example of LeBron doing whatever the hell he wants and having zero consequences.
I hope the next game with Detroit, someone “accidentally” elbows the bum and knocks he teeth out……… accidentally, of course
He got suspended for one game, so he certainly didn’t get “zero consequences.”
He sits out every other game anyways…
Wait til Sunday. Detroit Vs LaL part two.
I wonder if LeBron sits this one out because of “rest”
Lebron got the superstar NBA golden boy discount.
Always. The league has to protect their marquee players.
It’s a Superstars League maybe Detroit should get some haha besides it’s basketball sometimes that happens but going crazy on the court not listening to referees and coaches I guess lucky he’s not kicked off the team, team punishment not League punishment
Bron sucker punched him. The play was over. Bron reacted to Stewart putting his arm out. And swung high unfortunately. I know he didn’t want to hit him in face. But when you swing high. Things happen. He had no business swinging his fist at Stewart. It’s Bron primadonna behavior. He f$$$ up. Stewart should of clocked him. Bron should get a bigger fine. And Stewart did escalate it. If you don’t go after him right away. Then it’s just theater. Still Bron initiated it.
One game??? Anyone else and it’s 3 or 4. Beverly got 2 for pushing Paul from behind.
Repeat offender. LeBron has NEVER been suspended in NINETEEN years you fools. Find another player in the past 50 years that can say that? I’ll wait, because you can’t.
John Stockton.
That’s kind of the point. You really think he’s only deserved being ejected twice in that span of time? I have a bridge I’d like to sell you.
A bunch of Lebron haters. Lebron can’t help it if Stewart is stupid enough to bloc his swing with his face. He obviously did not mean to swing on him
Stewart can’t act like a wild animal hunting down Lebron Especially in Detroit
What happened to protecting the King? The league is doing its best to move on from Lebron. I hope this fuels his run at history
Well said Rich Paul
well it seems LeBron will do anything to stay away from MSG.
Shame
LeBron accidentally hurts another player battling for the ball, who then proceeds to run around like a complete maniac.
Surprised Stewart only got two games. Imagine if he got his hands on Bron. He was acting out of control
Pitiful. But ya gotta hand it to the ol’ cripple, if ya can’t play a fella straight up, give him a cheap shot. Bring Zelmo Beatty and John Stockton back. All they did was grab guy’s shorts.
19 seasons and he’s still 19/5/6.
HGH is the wonder drug
Welp one thing we can say for sure is you never watched John Stockton play
Too physical for you tho sweetie, I think your in the right era now.
In the same era as Dennis Rodman, Stockton was named by his peers as the dirtiest player in the game several times. He’d set moving screens, give you a hip check if you went through his screens, move into drives to take charges, slap your hand to steal the ball etc. Stockton is my favorite all time player but he was dirty as hell and got away with it because he was a skinny white boy.
100% Taco –
Barkley said he was the dirtiest player he’d ever played with and the toughest player on the Dream Team
This whole article/thread is more a sign of posters male fragility nowadays than a dirty basketball play
These are minor objections, barely visible to one watching the game. What is odd is people complaining about them. The complaining is what is racial. All the assists are because of his race too?
Both players got what they should, tho LBJ for 3 and Stewart for 5 wouldve been fine with me.
If Stewart actually wanted to hit LBJ, he had that chance and passed. After that, Stewart acted a clown, knowing he’d be held back.
boom i win!! I said what penalties would come down. LBJ hit was hard and caused bleeding so he deserved the 1 day suspension. Any player that would have caused that type of a hit to the face would get a suspension.
You did not say Stewart would get 2 games… not that I am bothering to go back and check… but no win. And players draw blood who do not get suspended, if the contact was declared accidental, even if clearly they were not.
To everybody who thinks LJ gets favors… he did not here. That “use” of the back -hand was basically determined intentional, which would not happen if LJ got favors.
He said Lebron would get nothing
What an incredibly stupid victory lap to take
League did well even giving Lebron 1.
Y’all soft.
No way the CCP would allow a multi-game suspension for LBJ!
The CCP already is appealing on LeBrons behalf
1 game for Lebron!?? I see the NBA’s disciplinary board is as broken as the US judicial system
I would like to know what James said to Stewart before he blew up.obviously it made Stewart blow up.James has been getting away with alot of things. How about the bear hug he did and the guy getting bear hugged got the foul called on him. These refs are pretty blind when it comes to James.
Amazing to me how many people actually care about how many games a player gets suspended in November for having a minor dustup. Move along.
You really need to learn to comprehend things. People are mad because lbj only got 1 game when any other player in the league would’ve got suspended for at least 5
I comprehend “people are mad”
I could not care less.
Well. I expected yo to say Lebron was “punked out” and “lost his cool” like Jokic.
No?
I don’t care how many games Jokic was suspended. Not even a little tiny bit.
In this case, Stewart was punked out and lost his cool. But again, I don’t care how many games Stewart was suspended either.
Yeah, I know…I should be “mad”
Noted. But gonna have to disagree. Had Morris gone ballistic like Stewart, would you have said Morris or Jokic was the one who lost their cool?
But you see, my stupid question is making the point that this crap has no place in basketball. Any basketball- From play ground to NBA. A foul is a foul, whether you’re Lebron or the rook.
If Morris went ballistic like Stewart, he would have been the one who lost his cool. Obviously, there were two players out of these four who “lost their cool”. Not really anything to argue about.
You totally missed my point on the Jokic thing anyway. If players know they can get him out of games by screwiing with him…they will. No one is trying to get Stewart or Morris out of games.
Players like Jokic have to be smarter than scrubs do.
Oh. I got your point and agreed. But what I’m saying is if Stewart had walked away and not gone ballistic, would we be saying that Lebron lost his cool and retaliated – like Jokic. Therefore, would have been suspended more games than Stewart?
Hence the point that Lebron got off light.
That is rubbish. Punching happens often and is called incidental. Marsh is just anti-LJ. Plenty of hater company.
Just means an extra day for LeBron to fulfill his GM duties.
He needed the day off to cast for his next show
All you guys who think Stewarts reaction is justified. Ok, I get he might lose control for a minute or two. But he went back 3 times! The last all the way across the floor. He acted like a crazy man. And when he finally went down the tunnel, he gives a forearm shove to one of the team guys before he turns left and heads away. He’s got anger issues and that needs to be brought under control. It’s not ok. No matter what happened on the floor. He got away cheap.
Lakers clear tax space with lebron missing a game. What! Like I said people chess. Buyout guy incoming. $$$
1 and 1 would’ve been fairer. It’s hard to understand that LeBron gets less games, when he started everything and was not even shoved.