Near Malice at the Pizza Palace
A bloody Isaiah Stewart actually tried to fight LeBron — like actually, for real, tried to fight.
Oh, man. Just a few days after the anniversary of the Malice at the Palace, Pistons PA announcer John Mason reminded fans at Little Caesars Arena to stay in their seats. LeBron James hit Isaiah Stewart with a fist, and a bloody Stewart actually tried to fight LeBron — like actually, for real, tried to fight.
Watch the whole thing. Stewart gets hit, takes exception, words are exchanged, he goes after LeBron, he's held back, repeat the last three steps two more times. It all ends with Stewart trucking staffers and security guards in one last attempt to get to LeBron and Russ, until he's gets carried out and runs into the tunnel.
The LeBron fans are going to come in and call Stewart crazy. They wouldn't be wrong — but the hit by LeBron was anything but an accident:
LeBron looked at him, pulled back, and clocked him in the face. Stewart is an irritant for many players around the league — but for LeBron, the face of the league, to get cranky and knock some sense into a 20-year-old on the frickin' Detroit Pistons seems like a waste.
Pistons fans have affectionately nicknamed Isaiah Stewart "Beef Stew." Couldn't be a more perfect nickname, right? Lonzo Ball once said "It's the NBA, nobody's trying to fight." That was a few years ago, before Stewart entered the league. You can't tell me he didn't want to fight LeBron — the greatest basketball player of this century and maybe ever. Not just fight, but kick his ass! How many guys in the NBA are going to go to the extreme Beef Stew did? Trucking staffers like he's Marshawn Lynch. Face streaming with blood like he's in the eleventh round vs. Tyson Fury. What he did was certainly dangerous, but we find ourselves being nostalgic for the 80s and 90s style of NBA basketball — and Isaiah Stewart is a modern Bad Boy.
No, LeBron won't get suspended — the Lakers play next against the Knicks on national television. Stewart will certainly miss a few games. But do you want to know the best part of all of this?
The Pistons play the Lakers again in a week. And if both players are available to play... a basketball game might break out during the middle of a WWE Smackdown event.
As far as the game is concerned, Detroit choked away a huge lead because there was nobody to stop Anthony Davis, who scored 21 of his 30 points after the altercation. Jerami Grant scored 36 points. Cade Cunningham became the youngest Piston in NBA history to record a triple double — but he was blocked by AD twice on the same possession, all but sealing it for LA.
The Lakers treating a November victory against the 4-11 Pistons like it's Game 7 of the NBA Finals is certainly interesting. I'm not sure what my takeaways from either team are long-term. It was entertaining as hell, but nothing new. Detroit needs talent and the Lakers need youth. Cade is still good, Russ is still wobbly, the Pistons will probably land Paolo Banchero, and the Lakers, when healthy, have enough in the tank to beat bad teams.