LeBron James hit Isaiah Stewart in the face in the Lakers' 121-116 win over the Detroit Pistons. There is no doubt about it. Whether it was intentional or accidental, it sparked a debate on social media and has been in the Lakers' locker room for the past 24 hours.
After the team's training session on Monday, Anthony said he didn't even want to think about the possibility of James being suspended for causing the chaos. The James camp also revealed to Shams Charania that James tried to contact Stewart by phone after the game.
James did not give a media interview after his deportation, but both Anthony Davis and Frank Vogel defended him, saying that in their view, James clearly had no intention of punching Stewart in the face. On the free throw, Stewart tried to make physical contact with LeBron. Brown did the same thing. Everyone in the league knows that Brown isn't a dirty guy," Davis said of his partner, whose view is that in his 19-year career, he's only been sent out twice since being deported Sunday night.
"It was an unfortunate contact," Vogel added. "(LeBron) elbowed the chest cavity, it was a foul, he tried to get rid of the contact, he had accidental contact. Obviously, it was enough to trigger a vicious battle, but that's how people reacted and I think our players did a good job of protecting their teammates but didn't try to upgrade. ”
In Davis's view, things shouldn't escalate to the point where Stewart tried to drive multiple teammates, opponents, players, coaches, referees and security guards to attack James.
"When he (LeBron) did that, he looked back at him and told him ' Oh my fault, I didn't try to do it.' He (Stewart) tried..." Davis said, pausing to think about how to describe what happened next, and then concluding, "I don't know what he's trying to do." But I know no one on our 1-15 team can do it. We want to protect our brothers. ”
Given James's quick apology, Davis dismissed the whole argument as overreacting.
Davis said: "In 10 years, I have never seen a player try to do this." "I mean, obviously we've seen this before, in the past, but in recent basketball games it's not necessary. The top of your eye was accidentally cut. I didn't mean to. We can't let him continue to charge our brothers like this. I don't know what he wants to do, but we're not going to allow him to do it. "That's what you want. In these situations, you need peacekeepers, for the most part, I think our people did that, obviously, we formed a wall around our teammates and supported each other without making things any uglier," Vogel said. "I commend our players."
Despite these statements, James (and Stewart) are likely to be punished by the league, whether it's a fine or a suspension. It's clear that the Lakers are trying to get ahead of james' interests, but we'll see the NBA decision before the Lakers continue their road trip, Tuesday against the New York Knicks and Wednesday against the Indiana Pacers.
As the story progresses, there may be more information updated.