Earlier this week, LeBron James and Isaiah Stewart earned suspensions from the league after engaging in a heated altercation that saw both players get swiftly ejected from the match.
In the days following the brawl, both James and Stewart have been pressed to tell their side of the story.
According to LeBron, his swipe on Stewart was nothing more than an accident that got blown way out of proportion.
“What happened was, it was a box-out,” explained James. “His elbow got kinda high and it got me off balance a little bit, and his elbow lifted my arm…and I basically tried to swing down on him, on his arm. And when I swing down on his arm, he got off balance and the side of my hand, you know, grazed his face. I knew right away I had caught some part of his head, so I went over to apologize to him and, obviously, you guys see what happened after that…”
LeBron has never been known as a dirty player, so his story is relatively easy to believe. Stweart, however, is not buying it. In his own moment with the media, he shared his thoughts in the aftermath of his explosion of anger, but also made to stress that he has moved on.
“This is gonna be my last time addressing it,” Stewart said. “I watched the film. Me personally, I didn’t feel like it was an accident, but it’s my last time addressing it. My main focus right now is on my team, my teammates, getting back to playing basketball.”
I asked Isaiah Stewart about the incident with LeBron James. This is the first time he publicly addressed it — and he said it’s gonna be his last. pic.twitter.com/jLP7xsCWZt
— Melissa Rohlin (@melissarohlin) November 26, 2021
Whether or not the contact was intentional is a mystery the NBA community will never solve, and the answer will vary depending on who you ask.
Whatever the case, both players are tired of dwelling on the past and there doesn’t seem to be any hard feelings on either end.
Let’s just hope it stays that way when the Pistons and Lakers meet again on Sunday.
