Hold him back!
Isaiah Stewart, a 6-foot-8, 250-pound forward for the Detroit Pistons, maniacally raced through a slew of his own teammates and coaches as blood streamed down his face while he recklessly chased after Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James during Sunday night’s contest at The Palace at Auburn Hills.
James, every bit Stewart’s equal at 6-foot-9, 250 pounds, carelessly cracked his counterpart on the side of his temple with an errant elbow while the two battled for rebound positioning on the block. After a made free throw, Stewart is seen hitting the deck while James seems to extend his hand in the downed player’s direction.
An unenthused Stewart is shown rising up, albeit bloodied, before confronting and chasing after James.
“Now this is ridiculous,” quipped the announcer.
“That’s nuts, that’s just crazy,” he later added as Stewart barreled over and through his own teammates and coaches in pursuit of James. Both players were eventually ejected after James was assessed a flagrant 2 foul for the initial strike in yet another showing of Malice at The Palace.
Players and coaches reacted after the contest, which the Lakers won, 121-116.
LeBron’s Lakers teammate Carmelo Anthony called for Stewart’s suspension, while Pistons head coach Dwayne Casey said his player “shouldn’t be facing any [suspension]”.
Casey also revealed that Stewart required eight facial stitches to close the gash near his eye, while Lakers coach Frank Vogel called James’ strike “incidental contact”.
The scene was a grim reminder of the original Malice at The Palace between the Pistons and Indiana Pacers in 2004. Check it out:
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