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LeBron James deserved to be assessed a flagrant-2 foul and ejected from the Los Angeles Lakers' clash with the Detroit Pistons.
Three minutes into the third quarter, with the Pistons leading 78-66, James and Pistons big man Isaiah Stewart got tangled up in preparation for a free-throw rebound. James aggressively jerked his arm, ostensibly to swat Stewart's arm away and free his own. James led with way too much elbow, though, and walloped Stewart in the eye.
https://twitter.com/TedBuddy8/status/1462579695866683395
this really looks painful https://t.co/Jrz2m7P1cd
— Michael Corvo (@michaelcorvo_) November 22, 2021
Upon review, the refs gave LeBron a flagrant-2 — defined as “unnecessary and excessive contact committed by a player against an opponent” — resulting in only the second ejection of his 19-year career.
James immediately apologized to Stewart and tried to make amends, but the Pistons big wasn't having it. At all. Stewart clearly took offense to the foul and possibly something LeBron or somebody else said as his rage and the scuffle escalated. Eventually, a slew of Pistons players and staff had to join forces to escort a bleeding and hysterical Stewart into the locker room.
one of the wildest NBA videos I've ever seen https://t.co/A8IIBH3gri
— Michael Corvo (@michaelcorvo_) November 22, 2021
🚨SCUFFLE between Isaiah Stewart AND LeBron leaves blood on the court floor. 🚨 #LakeShow vs#pistons https://t.co/rVRl5nLbl4
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) November 22, 2021
“(LeBron) had an elbow to the rib cage, which was a foul and (Stewart) was trying to shed the contact,” Frank Vogel recalled. “Had incidental contact that was obviously enough for a flagrant-2.”
Anthony Davis doesn't believe his Lakers teammate had any malintent.
“Everyone in the league knows LeBron's not a dirty guy,” he said. “A soon as he did it, he looked back at him like, ‘Oh, my bad. I didn't try to do it.'”
Surely, Stewart and Pistons fans disagree. The next big question will be whether the league thinks so as they review it for a suspension. LeBron does not carry a reputation as a dirty player (flopping is more his thing).
Neither LeBron nor Stewart did not speak to the media after the game.
“I don't know what he was trying to do,” Davis said about Stewart. “But I know nobody on our team, 1 through 15, was having it. We're going to protect our brother. … It wasn't on purpose.”
In general, the Lakers put a positive spin on the kerfuffle, framing it as a potentially season-altering moment; a team physically coming together as a symbolic gesture of team-building.
“The altercation, it could have done two things: It could have made us unravel or it could have brought us together and I think it did just that. It brought us together,” said DeAndre Jordan. “We were down, we could have easily folded, let go of the rope but we didn't. We continued to fight and we knew obviously with LeBron out we had to all step it up even more.”
Carmelo Anthony echoed those sentiments:
"We could have easily let the game slip away but we needed to come together at that moment…we needed something like that to spark our fire." Carmelo Anthony played a key role in the #Lakers climbing back into tonight's game with 18 points on 5/8 from three. @LakersReporter pic.twitter.com/9983mpYDPB
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) November 22, 2021
Vogel commended the Lakers on their composure amid a heated situation and turned it into a rally.
“I think our guys did a good job protecting a teammate, but not trying to escalate. That's what you want. You want peace-keepers in those situations and for the most part, I felt like our guys did that, while obviously forming a wall around a teammate.”
“To me, it's one of those things that can change the momentum of your season, to see guys rally around a teammate who just got ejected like that,” the head coach added. “Played with incredible guys … that's the determination that this team's gonna need…We'll get everybody's best punch every night, so that's how hard we gotta play to get Ws…It's a heck of a win for us.”
As for Russell Westbrook, he was more concerned with why he was given a T for the altercation.
as Russ goes on it seems increasingly clear that he was genuinenly upset about this https://t.co/vBmDtyMLeZ
— Michael Corvo (@michaelcorvo_) November 22, 2021
If LeBron receives a one-game suspension, he'll miss the annual visit to one of his favorite stages: Madison Square Garden. The Lakers face the New York Knicks on Tuesday.
