Monday night in the NBA was a hectic one that featured two different altercations. Perhaps the most significant one was the brawl between the Detroit Pistons and Charlotte Hornets that saw four players ejected from the game. Official league punishment has not yet come down, but in the aftermath, Pistons wing Duncan Robinson is being called out for his role, or lack thereof, in the brawl with the Hornets.
During a new episode of ‘Run It Back,’ by FanDuel TV, former NBA player Lou Williams questioned what Duncan Robinson was doing as camera and video footage seemingly caught him walking away from the brawl while it was still ongoing.
“The only person I’m mad at is Duncan Robinson,” Williams said. “The optics are bad, Duncan Robinson. Listen, if there ever comes a time where your teammates acting like they don’t trust you, you earned that. . .you’ve got to at least go over there and grab a teammate, do something. You can’t turn your back on guys when they’re squabbling.”
The incident occurred in the third quarter when Moussa Diabate fouled Jalen Duren. Words were exchanged, and then chaos broke out after that. Ultimately, Diabate, Duren, Miles Bridges and Isaiah Stewart were ejected. Bridges escalated the altercation while Stewart did as well upon leaving the bench.
In Robinson’s case, he was the Pistons’ prime offseason acquisition. And Lou Williams’ thoughts on the brawl aside, Robinson has been a crucial part of the team’s success this year. He’s appeared in 50 games, all starts, at a little over 28 minutes per game. He’s averaging 12.2 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists with splits of 44 percent shooting from the field, 40.1 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 73.9 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
The Pistons’ next game is Wednesday, Feb. 11 against the Toronto Raptors while the Hornets’ next game is the same day against the Houston Rockets. It will be interesting to see if the NBA issues fines and possibly suspensions by then.
