UPDATE 2/11/26 11:38 p.m. ET: The NBA has handed down suspensions following Monday night’s heated altercation between the Detroit Pistons and Charlotte Hornets, with Isaiah Stewart receiving the stiffest penalty.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, Stewart has been suspended seven games for his role in the fight. Hornets forward Miles Bridges and teammate Moussa Diabaté were each suspended four games, while Pistons center Jalen Duren received a two-game suspension.
The chaos unfolded in the third quarter of Monday’s matchup when Diabaté committed a hard foul on Duren during a shot attempt. The two exchanged words, which escalated into a face-to-face confrontation and, eventually, a larger scrum that spilled across the court and led to multiple ejections.
While Stewart was not involved in the initial foul, his decision to charge off the bench and onto the court intensified the situation.
See original story below.
After a fight broke during the Charlotte Hornets and Detroit Pistons game on Monday (Feb. 9), four players were ejected.
In the third quarter, Hornets forward Moussa Diabaté fouled Pistons center Jalen Duren as he was shooting, and the tensions between the two quickly escalated. They got in each other’s face on the court, and Duren placed his palm over Diabaté face, prompting them to lunge at each other. Hornets forward Miles Bridges immediately jumped in to back up his teammate, and a brawl erupted on the court.
Diabeté even threw some punches in the direction of Duren, while staff and players from both teams, including some from the benches, attempted to break up the fight and keep everyone apart. Just as it was getting chaotic, Pistons center Isaiah Stewart ran off the bench, and Bridges threw a punch as a second incident went down on the other side of the court. Diabeté, Bridges, Duren, and Stewart were all ejected from the game following the incident, and there was also a brief police presence on the court.
It was no Malice at the Palace, but the brawl is bound to draw some comparisons due to the presence of the Detroit Pistons.
It’s unclear if the players involved will face further disciplinary action, Stewart is a repeat offender, and leaving the bench when you’re not on the court is a major faux pas.
Bridges and Diabaté were unavailable for interviews after the game, but Duren talked about what transpired. As reported by The Guardian, Duren reflected on the incident after and admitted that it was an “overly competitive game” and that the players involved let the situation get the best of them. “Emotions were flaring,” he said in a post-game interview. “At the end of the day, we would love to keep it basketball, but things happen. Everybody was just playing hard.”
He also suggested that other teams have been attempting to “get in our head” throughout the season. “This isn’t the first time that people have tried to be, like, extra aggressive with us and talk to us, whatever the case may be,” he said. “But as a group, we have done an OK job of handling that energy and intensity. At the end of the day, emotions got high with everybody being competitive. Things happen.”
Bridges, in a post on Instagram later that day, apologized for his behavior. “Sorry Hornets nation!” he wrote. “Sorry Hornets Organization! Always gonna protect my teammates forever.”
Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff also defended the actions of his players and said they’ve been dealing with a lot this season.
“Our guys deal with a lot, but they’re not the ones that initiated, they’re not the ones who crossed the line tonight,” he said. “It was clear, through frustration, because of what [Duren] was doing, that they crossed the line. I hate that it got as ugly as it got. That’s not something that you ever want to see. But if a guy throws a punch at you, you have a responsibility to protect yourself. That’s what happened tonight.”