LeBron James attacks rival, provokes his anger and is expelled for the 2nd time in the NBA

Basketball star LeBron James, 36, was sent off in Sunday night’s Los Angeles Lakers victory over the Detroit Pistons (121-116) for the NBA regular season.

At his rival’s house, he was “ejected”, as the sports jargon says, for a blatant 2 foul after he landed a punch in the face of Isaiah Stewart of the Pistons.

The blow left a large gash that sent blood down Stewart’s face and infuriated him. The player then proceeded to try to attack James repeatedly, while his teammates were unable to calm him down. There were squabbles and shoving, but no more serious developments.

The 20-year-old, who is in his second season in the league, was also expelled.

The fight started when the Detroit team was ahead on the scoreboard (78-66), with 9 minutes and 18 seconds to go in the third quarter.

LeBron James hit Stewart in the face after a free throw. The Lakers player was escorted to the locker room to keep the riot from spilling into the hallways, and he did not speak to the press. It was their second game after losing eight games to injury.

Another star on the Los Angeles team, Anthony Davis, came to his teammate’s defense. “Everyone in the league knows that LeBron is not a dirty guy. [Stewart] and said ‘Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t try to do that'”.

This was the second career expulsion for LeBron James in 19 NBA seasons. The other occurred when he played for the Cleveland Cavaliers and argued with referees during a 108-97 victory over the Miami Heat (his old team) in November 2017.

This Sunday (30), LeBron had 10 points and five assists in 21 minutes before the sending-off.

Pistons coach Dwane Casey said it took Stewart between eight and nine stitches to repair the cut and that the athlete should not take any punishment.

The NBA has yet to comment on the mess, with the potential to bring the league’s biggest star to a halt.

Lakers and Pistons will face each other again next Sunday (28), this time in Los Angeles.