Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James was suspended for one game after starring in a violent confrontation with Detroit Pistons player Isaiah Stewart, the NBA reported Monday, November 22.
Stewart shed a lot of blood from a facial injury from LeBron’s hit, and his teammates and staff had to repeatedly hold him down as he tried to take on the star player.
The 20-year-old Stewart received a two-game suspension for his involvement in the altercation. The NBA said Stewart had received a two-game penalty for “escalating an altercation on the court by repeatedly and aggressively pursuing LeBron in an unsportsmanlike manner“.
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On his part, LeBron’s suspension, which will cause him to miss the Lakers‘ game against the New York Knicks on Tuesday, was for “recklessly punching Stewart in the face and starting an altercation on the court“.
The incident occurred with 9:18 minutes remaining in the third quarter and the Lakers trailing 79-67. LeBron slammed his arm into Stewart’s face as the pair struggled for position for a rebound. Both players were sent off.
Also Lakers star Anthony Davis later said that LeBron had inadvertently hit Stewart. “Everyone in the league knows that LeBron is not a dirty guy” Davis added that as soon as he did, LeBron tried to apologize.
According to international media, in his years in the NBA, James had only been expelled once, for protesting the referees, in 2017, when he was a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers and played against the Miami Heat, his former team.