Isaiah Stewart, a forward/center for the Detroit Pistons, was arrested the morning of Thursday, February 15th. He was accused of assault, in which he assaulted opposing center Drew Eubanks. He is not a stranger to this, as he was in a game with the Lakers and something very similar happened. At a free throw, Lebron James elbows Stewart, causing him to bleed from his face and causing Stewart to react crazily. The problem was that after being held back, he broke through everyone’s hands for a chance at swinging with Lebron. This is what the NBA put out right after it happened. “Detroit Pistons center Isaiah Stewart has been suspended two games without pay for escalating an on-court altercation by repeatedly and aggressively pursuing Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James in an unsportsmanlike manner, and James has been suspended one game without pay for recklessly hitting Stewart in the face and initiating an on-court altercation” (NBA). This was the first incident; now he has another confrontation that could seriously impact his career. No team would want a role player that gets assault charges every season, and this time he’s getting into court for this alleged assault.
They have offered him a citation, and he has been released from custody, but there tends to be one question. Will his team release him for being a PR liability and not having stats to back it up? If a top-five player did this, he would get a slap on the wrist, but since he is a role player on a bad team, they will have no problem releasing him for some cap space.