Pistons’ Monty Williams ‘Surprised’ About Isaiah Stewart’s Suspension

Before the Detroit Pistons entered their All-Star break, they paid a visit to the Phoenix Suns.

Hours before the game tipped off, Detroit veteran Isaiah Stewart was involved in an altercation with the Suns’ Drew Eubanks. It’s unclear what sparked the verbal altercation at first, but Stewart reportedly retaliated with a swing at Eubanks.

Security around the scene needed to intervene. Stewart was reportedly arrested after the situation and had a court date set for Thursday in Phoenix. Since Stewart didn’t need to physically attend, the veteran was in Indiana with his teammates, anticipating a potential return to action against the Pacers.

However, the NBA made its decision to suspend Stewart a few hours before the Pacers and the Pistons tipped off. Suddenly, Stewart’s eight-game absence became guaranteed to extend to 11 games in a row, as the NBA hit him with a three-game suspension.

“The NBA announced today that Detroit Pistons forward-center Isaiah Stewart has been suspended three games without pay for initiating a physical altercation with Phoenix Suns forward-center Drew Eubanks on Feb. 14 before a game between the Pistons and Suns at Footprint Center in Phoenix. Stewart punched and pushed Eubanks during the altercation.

Stewart will begin serving his suspension with the next NBA regular-season game that he is eligible and physically able to play, which is expected to be tonight’s game between the Pistons and Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.”

Following Detroit’s loss against the Pacers, the Pistons returned to practice on Friday morning. Detroit head coach Monty Williams addressed the result of the NBA’s quick investigation, revealing he felt surprised by the outcome.

“I’ve had time to kind of process that — I don’t want to add to that conversation because I don’t think it’s helpful — but to be respectful, I was a bit surprised,” Williams told reporters. “These kinds of things happen when you’re dealing with competitive people.”

While Williams seems to believe the three-game suspension might be a bit much, he understands the league can’t take situations like this lightly, as they want to make sure they avoid similar incidents in the future.

“I understand the league has to make tough decisions,” Williams finished. “I’ve talked to our people, I’ve talked to [Isaiah Stewart]. Hopefully, we can move on and learn from this. I don’t fault anybody. I don’t fault the league for making these kinds of tough decisions. It always hurts you when you’re on this side of it. I have a different take on it.”

Thursday’s matchup against the Pacers counted as the first game of Stewart’s suspension. He’ll miss Saturday’s outing against the Orlando Magic, along with next Monday’s matchup against the New York Knicks. As long as Stewart remains healthy, he could be back out on the floor next Tuesday to take on the Chicago Bulls.