LeBron James ejected from Sunday’s game vs. Pistons after committing Flagrant 2 foul, Lakers come back to win game

Monday update: LeBron has been suspended one game for his flagrant foul and will serve it on Tuesday against the Knicks. Stewart was suspended for two games for “escalating an on-court altercation.”

Update: LeBron James’ ejection seems to have provided some much-needed life in the Lakers, as they come back from a late deficit to snag a 121-116 win and snap a three-game losing streak. Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis were pivotal down the stretch as the Lakers outscored the Pistons 37-17 in the final quarter. LA will be back in action Tuesday against the Knicks.

It’s been a rough start to the 2021-22 NBA season for the Los Angeles Lakers, and things didn’t get much better Sunday against the lowly Detroit Pistons. LeBron James, playing in his second game back from an abdominal strain, was ejected for committing a Flagrant 2 foul on Isaiah Stewart. Here’s the video.

James threw an elbow at Stewart’s face on an attempt to block him out during a free throw shot. It doesn’t matter what your star status is in the NBA; that is basically the standard for an ejection. It’s unnecessary or excessive force to the head or neck region, which James’ elbow classifies as. We’ll see if James gets a suspension from the league office, but that’s unlikely to occur. The league may ultimately hand out some fines for the ensuing scuffle and leave it at that. Here’s a video angle showing Stewart attempting to go after James later on in the sequence, clearly frustrated by the elbow.

This is James’ second career ejection, and his streak of scoring double-digit points in games stays intact as he exited with 10. The Lakers were down to the Pistons by 12 when this ejection occurred, which is the far greater problem for a team with championship expectations this season.