The NBA on Monday suspended Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James one game and the Detroit Pistons' Isaiah Stewart two games for an incident involving the two that occurred during the third quarter of Sunday's game between the Pistons and Lakers.
While positioning for a rebound on a free throw attempt, James swung his arm into Stewart's face, connecting with his eye and drawing blood.
Stewart, a second-year center taken No. 16 overall in the 2020 NBA Draft, then attempted to retaliate by charging toward James multiple times. James was assessed a Flagrant-2 foul, Stewart was given two technical fouls and both players were ejected.
Both suspensions are without pay.
Following the game, James' teammates and coaches defended his character.
"Everyone in the league knows LeBron's not a dirty guy," Lakers forward Anthony Davis said. "In fact, when he knew he hit him, as soon as he did it, he looked back at him like ‘Oh, my bad. I didn't try to do it.'"
This is the first suspension of James' career, and only his second ejection.
James will now miss the Lakers' trip to play the New York Knicks Tuesday evening. Stewart will sit out the Pistons' home game with the Miami Heat Tuesday and road trip to the Milwaukee Bucks Wednesday.
