There is no love lost between Isaiah Stewart, the Detroit Pistons and LeBron James and his Lakers.
In case you were on holiday on another planet and missed it, the two players got into a bit of a fracas after LeBron hit Beef Stew in the face while the two were boxing out for a rebound.
The reaction has been well documented at this point, and even though I don’t think it was that big of a deal, I am glad to see the rivalry between the Pistons and Lakers re-ignited.
LeBron has tried to play down the incident, claiming it was an accident and that he was merely trying to bat Stewart’s arm away and didn’t mean to hit him in the face.
The replay seems to show otherwise, which is why Stewart wasn’t having any of LeBron’s excuses. This is what he had to say in a statement to the media:
"“It’s going to be my last time addressing it. I watched the film. Me, personally, like I said, I didn’t feel like it was an accident. But this is my last time addressing it. My main focus right now is on my team and my teammates, getting back to playing basketball,. I’m not going to let that define who I am. I’m going to let what Detroit drafted me for define who I am, and the way I play basketball. I don’t want to address that no more and my main focus is on helping my teammates and coaches.”"
The best revenge for Isaiah Stewart would be a Detroit Pistons’ win
LeBron James is listed as questionable for this game, so it is possible that he and Stewart will not even share the court tonight.
Even if they do, Isaiah Stewart can’t get caught up in any kind of personal vendetta against LeBron and I don’t think for a second that he will.
Instead, I’d love to see Beef Stew come out and play well against the Lakers as he was before LeBron’s cheap shot got him thrown out of the game and suspended for two more.
This would be the ideal time for the young Pistons to come out, put their heads down and play with focus and purpose. I’m sure the veteran lakers (particularly Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis) will try to get into the Pistons’ heads and get them out of sync, but the Pistons can’t get caught up in the talking.
The Pistons were putting a beating on the Lakers before the Beef Stew Incident changed the momentum of the game and left the Pistons without a big to defend Anthony Davis.
I’d love to see them come out and do it again, except this time finish the job. The Lakers are just 10-11 and are coming off an overtime loss to the Kings last night, so now is a good time to catch them.
The Pistons are coming off a horrific showing against the Clippers and still can’t make a shot, so they are heavy underdogs in this one and have nothing to lose. This would be the ideal time to get out of that shooting slump, get a big win on the road and serve out a cold plate of revenge.