3:40pm: The misdemeanor assault charge against Stewart has been dismissed after prosecutors declined to pursue the case, tweets Baxter Holmes of ESPN. That explains why the NBA handed out a suspension today, since the league typically doesn’t act until the legal process has played out.
Stewart will lose $108,966 as part of his three-game suspension, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).
3:17pm: Pistons big man Isaiah Stewart has been suspended three games without pay for initiating an altercation with Suns big man Drew Eubanks prior to last week’s game in Phoenix, the NBA announced (via Twitter).
Stewart punched and pushed Eubanks during the incident, per the league’s statement. His suspension is expected to begin on Thursday vs. Indiana, as Detroit’s forward/center was set to be active tonight for the first time in several weeks after dealing with an ankle sprain.
Eubanks said he was sucker-punched in the face by Stewart in the hallway of the Footprint Center shortly after arriving at the arena, though he wasn’t injured and was able to suit up for the Suns’ victory last Wednesday. Stewart was arrested on a misdemeanor assault charge and issued a citation before being released.
Stewart, 22, is averaging 11.0 PPG and 6.8 RPG on .470/.374/.746 shooting in 35 games (30.6 MPG) this season for the Pistons, who hold the worst record in the league at 8-46.
Lol if he is still hurt, they could just make him ‘active’ and have the suspension cover his injury time. Not saying that’s the case but stuck out to me as an interesting wrinkle
Not sure how it’s enforced, but technically suspensions only begin once the player is healthy enough to play.
It the last month i have seen players do things that Draymond Green has done but barely get punished. While Green gets a flagrant 2 for these players get a flagrant 1 or just barely a T.
Draymond is held to a different standard. Luckily since he’s come back his focus and demeanor has been solely on the game itself and less so about the refs
This was before the game lol. The refs weren’t even there.
It’s almost like doing something bad 200 times is punished more than doing something bad once.
A light punishment from the NBA’s lightweight commissioner. This can’t be a precedent for a player punching an opponent; many will consider it the cost of doing business.
$110,000 or two percent of your yearly salary is a pretty hefty fine for throwing a punch where no one was injured if you ask me.