Isaiah Stewart’s timing was certainly ironic.
The Pistons center was suspended one game without pay after he accumulated his sixth flagrant foul point of the season earlier this week, the NBA announced on Friday.
He will serve the suspension during the Pistons’ clash against the Mavericks Friday night at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
It puts a damper on the Pistons’ promotion for the night.
They had planned to honor Stewart by giving out a bobblehead in his likeness to 5,000 fans attending Friday’s game.
Detroit still plans on going through with the promotion, the team told TMZ.
ABC’s local Detroit affiliate gave a sneak peek of the bobblehead, which completes with a Jalen Duren bobblehead given out earlier this year.
Stewart earned the punishment during the Pistons’ 133-119 loss to the Pacers on Wednesday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
During the second quarter, Stewart decked Pacers center Thomas Bryant while attempting to box him out for a rebound.
He was subsequently issued a flagrant foul 2 and ejected.
Stewart was also fined $50,000 for making inappropriate and objectionable gestures following the ejection — he appeared to make a gun gesture in the direction of the Pacers’ bench as he walked off the court.
The NBA uses a point system for flagrant fouls in the regular season — a flagrant 1 foul earns a player one point, while a flagrant 2 foul earns a player two points.
Once a player exceeds five total points, he earns an automatic one-game suspension.
Additionally, if a player reaches seven points, he earns an automatic two-game suspension.
Stewart claimed that Bryant had been trash-talking in the lead-up to the incident but acknowledged he let his team down.
“A lot of talk, a lot of words — I know that’s what opponents are going to do because that’s all they have, is words,” Stewart said. “I slipped up, fell for the trap, and I let my teammates down. … I have to be better at not letting those words allow me to affect the team. I know my squad could have used me out there tonight, and going forward, all they got for me is words. They don’t have anything else.”
Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff defended Stewart after the game.
“There are things that happen on the basketball court that you have to deal with, and then there are certain things that are said to you that are no longer about basketball,” Bickerstaff said. “When it crosses that line like it did tonight, you should be able to stand up for yourself.”
