The NBA has suspended five players for their roles in a heated altercation during Sunday’s game between the Detroit Pistons and Minnesota Timberwolves in Minneapolis. The ruling, delivered Tuesday by NBA executive vice president Joe Dumars, underscores the league’s zero-tolerance stance on escalating on-court confrontations.
Leading the disciplinary action is Pistons forward-center Isaiah Stewart, who has been suspended for two games without pay. The NBA cited Stewart’s “repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts” as the reason for the harsher penalty. Stewart’s suspension means he will miss Detroit’s games against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday and the Toronto Raptors on Friday.
The other four players involved in the brawl received one-game suspensions without pay. Detroit’s Ron Holland II and Marcus Sasser, along with Minnesota’s Naz Reid and Donte DiVincenzo, will each serve their bans during their team’s next scheduled games. Reid and DiVincenzo sat out Tuesday night’s game against the Denver Nuggets, while Holland and Sasser will miss Wednesday’s clash in Oklahoma City.
The incident occurred with 8:36 remaining in the second quarter. The confrontation began when Holland fouled Reid, prompting a reaction from the Timberwolves big man. Holland responded by shoving DiVincenzo, who then escalated the altercation by forcefully pushing Holland in the chest. The situation further unraveled as Holland and DiVincenzo became entangled and tumbled into the spectator area.
According to the NBA’s statement, Stewart and Sasser entered the fray and added to the escalation by shoving both DiVincenzo and Reid. All five players involved were assessed technical fouls and ejected from the game.
Stewart’s track record likely factored into the league’s decision. He previously received a three-game suspension in 2023 for punching Suns forward Drew Eubanks before a game and was also penalized for a 2021 altercation involving LeBron James.
The Timberwolves went on to win Sunday’s game comfortably, 123-104, but the scuffle cast a shadow over the contest. The NBA’s swift action aims to prevent such incidents from marring future games.
As the Pistons and Timberwolves regroup, both teams will need to fill key rotational gaps, while the league sends a clear message: in-game discipline and sportsmanship remain paramount.
