If you come at The King, you best not get held back …
In a scene that was somewhat reminiscent of the Malice at the Palace back in 2004 when LeBron James was in his sophomore season in the NBA, Isaiah Stewart of the Detroit Pistons took on hell and high water while trying to get revenge on James for bloodying his eye while they were bodying up at the free-throw line.
It’s a bit difficult to see in the various video clips that are circling around the internet, but in the views that are available it is fairly obvious that James took his left elbow and jammed it into Stewart’s right eye — with force.
Called for a foul before James hit him, Detroit’s center was furious after taking the apparent cheap shot from James, who was later assessed with a Flagrant 2 foul and was tossed from the game along with Stewart, and had to be held back more than once while he was trying to get at the NBA’s biggest superstar. The 20-year-old, who played possum at one point and walked back toward the locker room before sprinting down the court at James, needed stitches after the game.
“I was going to say, we’re back in Detroit, too. So, flashbacks,” Lakers center Anthony Davis, who had 30 points and 10 rebounds in the 121-116 win for LA, said after the game. “But, yeah, I mean, the NBA security, their security, our security, coaching staff, even some players did a good job of trying to de-escalate the situation. Even though he kept charging and charging and charging, trying to run in circles or go behind and all that stuff. Our security, their security, league security and arena security, everybody did a good job of trying to de-escalate the situation. And you never want to get to that point, like 17 years ago. But, when a guy — I guess he had it on his mind, he wanted to do something. And when he got it on his mind, I guess there wasn’t no stopping him.”
All in all, while there was plenty of pushing, shoving and trash-talking, there weren’t really any blows that were thrown other than the first shot 36-year-old James, possibly inadvertently, delivered with his elbow.
“I told him, ‘Don’t let this define who you are. It doesn’t define your game whatsoever. Keep your head [up] and don’t get a reputation afterward,’” Pistons head coach Dwane Casey said of his talk with his young center. “I feel for the young man because he’s such a competitor and plays so hard. He’s a great kid. He felt like he got a cheap shot across his brow. On the street, it would be a different story. It’s no reflection on who Isaiah Stewart is whatsoever.”
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