The Charlotte Hornets and the Detroit Pistons put on a show Monday night, albeit it had little to do with basketball. In the third quarter, players from both sides got into an all-out brawl that baffled spectators. Other NBA players who saw the footage later had strong reactions as well.
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The altercation began when Moussa Diabate fouled Jalen Duren, who responded by pushing the Hornets center in the face. That quickly escalated the situation. Moments later, Isaiah Stewart came running from the Pistons bench and got into it with Miles Bridges, who had also stepped into the fray.
The chaos ultimately led to all four players being ejected. Jaylen Brown, who was at home streaming, decided to react to the brawl after it became the talk of the town.
The Celtics star understood why Diabate lost his cool. In the heat of the moment, he said that when someone “mushes” or shoves another player’s face, it can make their blood boil. Brown even hinted that he might have reacted the same way if he were in Diabate’s position.
“If a dude takes his hand and mush your face like that… I ain’t gon lie, somebody gotta die,” Brown said, defining the mushing of one’s face as the ultimate disrespect.
Jaylen Brown reaction to Pistons and Hornets getting into it:
“If a dude takes his hand and mush your face like that..I ain’t gon lie somebody gotta ***”
— Riley ❄️ (@rileysbetter) February 10, 2026
The NBA, however, will not be inclined to find justification in the actions of Diabate or any of the other three involved. The players will likely be suspended, with Stewart, who ran the length of the court to join a fight he was not initially involved in, expected to face the harshest penalty.
Stewart, meanwhile, was unapologetic. “You don’t expect me to sit on the bench. The f**k I got drafted to Detroit for,” he was heard saying in the tunnel after getting ejected. Duren, on the other hand, seemed to realize that the situation got out of hand.
Isaiah Stewart after getting ejected:
“You don’t expect me to sit on the bench. The f*ck I got drafted to DETROIT for.” pic.twitter.com/GQ5ePUIfVx
— BrickCenter (@BrickCenter_) February 10, 2026
“At the end of the day, we would love to keep it basketball, but things happen. Everybody was just playing hard,” said Duren. But he also admitted that the Pistons have been targeted by rivals throughout the season.
“This isn’t the first time that people have tried to be like extra aggressive with us and talk to us, whatever the case may be,” added Duren.
Perhaps the reaction to Diabate was a byproduct of that feeling Duren is carrying: That teams are overtly aggressive toward the Pistons.
