“I’ll Beat the F*** Out of You”: Isaiah Stewart and Russell Westbrook Engage in a Profanity-Laced Exchange

Both Isaiah Stewart and Russell Westbrook are notorious for getting into heated, sometimes physical, on-court exchanges. When the Detroit Pistons faced the Denver Nuggets on Saturday, the two hot-headed personalities faced each other in quite a few contests, leading to a profanity-laced interaction between them.

Tempers first began to heat up after the 2017 MVP aggressively pushed off Detroit’s Ausar Thompson while driving to the lane, prompting Stewart to jump at him even after the whistle was blown. This light dispute was only the beginning of what would turn into an intense confrontation within the next few minutes.

Back on the defensive end, the 23-year-old lightly pushed Westbrook toward the sideline before attempting to block Nikola Jokic. The shove was enough for the nine-time All-Star to start engaging with the big man. “Dumba**,” the veteran guard yelled at Stewart as he made his way back to defense.

The insults didn’t sit well with Beef Stew, who soon got in the 36-year-old’s face. “I’ll beat the f*** out of you,” the fifth-year center replied, seemingly bracing for a physical scuffle, “B***h a** n***a.”

The angered reaction was exactly what the veteran point guard wanted as Westbrook immediately motioned to the officials after being blasted with profanities.

Stewart wound up getting a technical foul for the exchange, prompting Westbrook to turn toward the Denver crowd and raise his arms in an attempt to get them fired up. The interaction certainly energized the Nuggets as the team quickly turned a 13-point lead into a 25-point cushion by the end of the third quarter.

Detroit made a valiant comeback attempt, but Denver’s electrifying 47-point third made the deficit too big to dig out of. Westbrook had the last laugh after the Nuggets’ 134-121 victory.

Isaiah Stewart has let his emotions get the best of him before as well

While things never turned physical between Stewart and Westbrook, it didn’t seem out of the realm of possibility considering the Pistons big man’s past. The former first round pick had already accumulated 15 technical fouls in his career by the end of last season, but his outburst against the Los Angeles Lakers reigns supreme as Stewart’s most notorious rampage.

Back in November 2021, the New York native was still a bit of an unknown in the league as a second-year talent for one of the NBA’s worst teams. However, that quickly changed after LeBron James, a player everyone knows, struck Stewart in the face while boxing out for a rebound. The Washington product once again let his emotions get the better of him, prompting him to charge through a crowd of his teammates and opponents in an attempt to confront the superstar.

The altercation immediately became the story of the night as it was incredibly rare to see a player stand up to LBJ in such an aggressive manner. Although Stewart paid the price with a two-game suspension, the heated exchange put his name on the rest of the league’s radar.