As a result of Sunday evening’s brawl between the Pistons and Timberwolves, the NBA has decided to suspend five players from both teams. The league finally delivered their sentence this Tuesday, as two stars from Minnesota and three from Detroit will receive bans for their misconduct.
The biggest penalty was handed to center Isaiah Stewart, who will be missing out on two games, while his Pistons teammates Marcus Sasser and Ron Holland II each received a one-game ban. As for the Wolves, Donte DiVincenzo and Naz Reid also were handed one-game suspensions.
NBA executive vice president Joe Dumars explained the process of defining these penalties, noting that Stewart received a longer ban due to his “repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts.”
This means that Reid and DiVincenzo missed Tuesday’s clash against Denver, while the Detroit trio will miss tonight’s game vs. Oklahoma City. “Obviously things went too far,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff said after Sunday’s skirmish.
The Pistons tactician then added: “But what you see is guys looking out for one another, guys trying to protect one another, guys trying to have each other’s backs. Those are nonnegotiables in our locker room.”
The brawl started on Sunday with 8:36 left in the first half, as Detroit was leading 39-30. It began when Stewart received a technical foul moments before when he collided with DiVincenzo after a whistle. Holland was then called for a foul as he slapped the ball out of Reid’s hands.
After the two exchanged words, Donte stepped in between both players and grabbed onto Ron’s jersey, resulting in a huge skirmish involving at least ten players from both teams. The fight then spilled into the spectators seated along the baseline, and coaches and trainers intervened to stop the confrontations.
