"Keep the game first. There’s a lot of noise," commented Kevin Durant after the game.
Detroit Pistons center Isaiah Stewart was involved in a physical altercation with Arizona Suns forward Drew Eubanks on Wednesday, leading to Stewart's arrest.
The alleged incident occurred in a parking tunnel at Footprint Arena in Arizona at around 4:45 p.m., about an hour before the two teams were to face off. Witnesses later said that Stewart, 22, and Eubanks, 27, had gotten into a verbal altercation as they arrived at the arena that turned violent.
"Witnesses said the argument escalated when they saw Stewart punch Eubanks, causing a minor injury," the Phoenix Police Department said in a statement, via TMZ. "Both men were separated by security which ended the fight."
Stewart was arrested for assault and issued a citation shortly after, and was released from police custody. Though, an investigation remains ongoing.
The Pistons later issued a statement and said the team was aware of the incident. "We are in the process of gathering information about what happened and what provoked it, and responding to the NBA and local authorities," the statement said, according to Fox 2 Detroit.
However, Pistons coach Monty Williams, who was fired by Phoenix after last season, told reporters that the Suns should not have weighed in.
"The thing is to get all of the information. The NBA will do an investigation," Williams said. "For me to come here and make a statement would be a bit irresponsible. I know the Suns said it was unprovoked; I think that is irresponsible for sure. You really don’t know."
"That did not need to happen," he added. "There is a time for the information to be gathered and then you can make a statement."
Suns star forward Kevin Durant also opened up about the situation in a post-game press conference.
"Keep the game first. There’s a lot of noise," Durant said. "It’s unfortunate what happened before the game, it’s supposed to be a brotherhood. But I also understand, dudes get into stuff. We try to avoid that in this league, hopefully we can move on from it. We all support Drew."
This is not the first time Stewart has been involved in an altercation with another player. In 2021, he gained national notoriety after being involved in an on-court physical altercation with LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers. As a result of that incident, Stewart was suspended for two games and James for one.
