As he watched the scene unfold Sunday night in Detroit, Anthony Davis said he was having "flashbacks." It was almost 17 years ago to the day that the Malice at the Palace gave the NBA a black eye. Now Isaiah Stewart was bleeding from his brow and charging at LeBron James, barreling through coaches as he tried to get even with the four-time MVP for a shot to the face.
"I don't know what he was trying to do, but I know nobody on our team was having it," said Davis. "We're going to protect our brother. I’ve never in 10 years seen a player try to do that since I’ve been playing. Obviously we’ve seen it before back in the day, but in recent basketball, it was uncalled for.
"You got a cut above your eye, accidental. It wasn’t on purpose. We weren't going to allow him to keep charging our brother like that."
Davis, Russell Westbrook and a few other Lakers stood in front of James as the 6'8, 250-pound Stewart shook free of teammates and coaches and bull-rushed the face of the NBA, not once but twice. Stewart never got within striking distance, which was for the best. There was enough blood on the court as it was. If Stewart's actions were uncalled for, so was James' cheapshot -- and yes, that's what it was -- that sent Stewart into a rage. Dwane Casey said Stewart needed eight stitches to stop the bleeding.
"His eye got cracked all the way open," said Casey. "He was upset for a reason."
After the game, a come-from-behind win for the Lakers in which Davis went off following Stewart's ejection, Casey told his 20-year-old center, "Don’t let this define who you are. It doesn’t define your game whatsoever. Just keep your head and don’t get a reputation afterward."
"I felt for the young man because he’s such a competitor," Casey said. "He plays so hard. He’s a great kid. He felt like he got cheap-shot across his brow. On the street, it’d be a different story. So it’s no reflection on who Isaiah Stewart is whatsoever."
Asked if he expects Stewart to face any discipline from the NBA, Casey said, "He shouldn’t be facing anything."
Only James knows for sure whether his blow landed as intended. It did get him ejected. Casey acknowledged, "I don't think James is a dirty player." Davis said "everyone in the league knows Bron's not a dirty guy."
"After he hit him, as soon as he did it, he looked back at him and told him, 'My bad. I didn’t try to do it,'" Davis said.
But it doesn't take a dirty player to commit a dirty play. It's easiest to feel sorry after doing something wrong. If James 'didn't try to do it,' what was he trying to do by swinging his elbow and fist in the direction of Stewart's face? LeBron will get the benefit of the doubt from the NBA, because the NBA runs through LeBron. But if Stewart was the man who boiled over, it was James who brought everything to a simmer.
Uncalled for? That's for the league to decide. Either way, today's NBA could use a little more heat.