NBA players need hobbies to help break up the long grind of the season. For many, video games are the answer, as they take their PlayStations and Xboxes on the road. Others, such as LeBron James, become wine connoisseurs. Then there’s Myles Turner, who has made a name for himself not only for being one of the NBA’s premier shot-blocking artists over his 10-year career but also for his incredible LEGO collection.
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Turner is understandably proud of his insane collection and display, which includes a life-size “Darth Myles” that shows off his Star Wars fandom. Pistons center Isaiah Stewart is not exactly impressed with Turner’s off-the-court hobby, though, and he told him so during a post-game altercation on Thursday night.
Turner led his Pacers to a road win over Stewart’s Pistons with a game-high 28 points on 8-11 three-point shooting. The game got chippy, with Indiana’s Pascal Siakam chirping at Detroit’s Cade Cunningham and others. The teams met out on the court as the game ended, and though it thankfully didn’t turn into a Malice at the Palace situation, some words were exchanged, including Stewart telling Turner, “You play with LEGOs.”
NBA insider Brian Windhorst discussed the situation on The Hoop Collective, and he made it clear where he stood on the Turner/Stewart beef.
“I have nothing bad to say about Mr. Isaiah ‘Beef Stew’ Stewart. I’m pro-LEGO, buddy. Real men build LEGO, especially with their children. So his branding Myles Turner a ‘less-than’ for being a LEGOs guy as he did the other day, I just won’t stand for it. So I side with Myles Turner.”
Turner obviously got the last laugh in the game, and he vastly outplayed Stewart, who came off the bench to score 2 points and grab 13 rebounds in the losing effort.
This is one of Isaiah Stewart’s milder beefs
Although it came off as pretty weak that Stewart chose to attack Turner over his brick-building hobby, at least he didn’t go after him the same way he went after LeBron James back in 2021. In that incident, Stewart took an inadvertent elbow to the face and went into beast mode, charging at James through teammates, refs, and security personnel in one of the wilder instances of on-court misbehavior NBA fans had seen in a long time. He was suspended two games for the incident.
Stewart was also suspended three games almost a year ago for sucker-punching Drew Eubanks hours before a Pistons-Suns game, a move which even got him arrested and issued a citation for misdemeanor assault.
The common thread in all three of these games is that the Pistons lost, and Stewart didn’t do much on the court. Maybe what he needs is a relaxing hobby to get over his anger issues. May we suggest LEGO?
