The NBA announced suspensions stemming from the extracurriculars between the Charlotte Hornets and Detroit Pistons.
Beef Stew will have to simmer for a while.
Isaiah Stewart is getting a lot more than five minutes for fighting, as the NBA announced that the Detroit Pistons forward was sentenced to a seven-game suspension for his role in an on-court fight with members of the Charlotte Hornets during a Monday melee at Spectrum Center.
Stewart was one of four charged in the debacle: Detroit teammate Jalen Duren was assessed two games while Hornets forwards Miles Bridges and Moussa Diabate got four each. Stewart, well-known for his on-floor altercations of both the legal and extracurricular variety, received a longer suspension “based in part on his repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts” according to a league statement.
The incident in question began just before the midway point of the third period of Detroit’s latest visit to Charlotte on Monday. Diabate and Duren got physical after a one-on-one confrontation, with the latter shoving the former by putting his hands on his face. Diabate attempted to punch back but was restrained by Duren’s other teammate Tobias Harris.
When Bridges stepped in to throw a punch at Duren, Stewart left the Detroit bench to get involved, further instigating an extended get together of Hornets and Pistons that lasted a tense half-minute. Order was eventually restored and the four offenders were ejected from the game, which the Eastern Conference-leading Pistons won by a 110-104 final.
Physicality defined Monday’s anticipated game, which saw the surging Hornets (25-29) enter with a nine-game winning streak. The two teams united for 44 fouls and Hornets head coach Charles Lee was later ejected from the game for engaging in heated theatrics over an offensive foul called against Grant Williams. Lee was restrained by several of his men before leaving the floor.
According to the league’s statement, Bridges and Diabate each received four games “for fighting and escalating the altercation” while Duren’s couple came from “initiating the altercation and fighting.” ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that Duren will be allowed to partake in this weekend’s NBA All-Star Game in Inglewood, appearing on the USA “Stars” team alongside Pistons teammates Cade Cunningham in the main event on Sunday evening.
Since January 2025, Stewart has lost 10 games and over $150,000 in fines and docked pay for his involvement in several on-court confrontations. He was previously charged with two games for extracurriculars in a late March game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, one that saw him get Wolves forward Naz Reid in a chokehold.
JB on Stew getting involved: “Duren and Stew consider themselves to be brothers. If you run two guys at one guy and you’ve already crossed the line, human instinct tells him to protect his little brother.” pic.twitter.com/2nI0Bjoe5G
— Omari Sankofa II (@omarisankofa) February 10, 2026
Pistons head coach JB Bickerstaff defended Stewart’s actions in his postgame statements from Monday, pleased with the way he stuck up for a teammate. Duren and Stewart have been lasting members of the current Pistons (39-13), who have risen from squalor in the standings to post the best record in the Eastern Conference entering the All-Star break.
“We don’t want it to get to that point,” Bickerstaff said in video from Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press. “But when you go back and watch the film, they ran multiple guys at JD. JD and Stew consider themselves to be brothers and if you run two guys at one guy, you’ve already crossed the line. Human instinct tells him to protect his little brother.”
Each man’s suspension will begin tonight, the penultimate night of action before the All-Star break: Detroit heads north to face the Toronto Raptors (7:30 p.m. ET, FanDuel Sports Detroit), while the Hornets host the Atlanta Hawks (7 p.m. ET, FanDuel Sports Southeast).
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
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