I mean James clearly hit him in the face recklessly, but how exactly did he initiate an on-court altercation? If it is the mere fact that he did a reckless action, then that is just dumb. It isn't like he taunted him, celebrated, or did something else to initiate an altercation. I'm fine with 1 game for the elbow to the face, but just making things up isn't a good look for the NBA either.
Except it was a punch, not an elbow. He hit him with his hand.
Not relevant to the point though.
You don’t think a punch would initiate an on-court altercation? The point is that LeBron’s blow wasn’t merely “reckless”, but intentional. It wasn’t a basketball play, but an action borne out of frustration and being a sore loser.
Exactly. Lebron had just lost to the franchise he hates the most who were short handed. Lebron immediately walked off the court in frustration, not talking to any of his opponents.
Then he goes into Detroit, a team the Lakers should kill, and the team is struggling. A kid tries to get position off a rebound from a FT, and the very frustrated Lebron quickly looks at Stewart, and then purposely swings his arm at Stewart's face, grazing him with his elbow and hitting him square in the face with a back hand closed fist.
That's not a basketball play. It's a altercation initiating move that upset Stewart. Also, some commentators at the game suggested Lebron said something to Stewart that inflamed the situation, which is contrary to some in the media, and this blog, painting it like Lebron was all apologetic and mea culpa about the incident.
I still say both deserved an extra game over what they got as a suspension for their actions. Things could have gone sideways quickly with benches clearing if any other punches were thrown.
