Former NBA champion Dwight Howard, 37, is ejected alongside ELEVEN other players in massive fight in Taiwanese basketball league
Dwight Howard was among a group of 12 players ejected from a basketball game in Taiwan after a massive fight broke out between his team, the Taoyuan Leopards, and the TaiwanBeer HeroBears.
On Sunday, with 54.85 seconds remaining in the game, HeroBears captain and point guard Chian Yu-an suffered an elbow knock to the face from Leopards guard Chen Hsiao-jung, igniting a brawl on the court.
Both players squared up and started throwing punches at each other, as teammates and referees tried to separate them.
The fight then turned into a huge massive free-for-all and things started turning ugly when HeroBears assistant coach Lin Chieh-ho aggressively chased down Hsiao-jung, footage shows.
The coach failed to land a punch on the guard, who retaliated before the game’s officials stepped in to intervene.
Chian Yu-an got an elbow to the face from Chen Hsiao-jung, igniting a brawl in Sunday’s game
Dwight Howard seemingly acted as a peacemaker from the court’s sidelines, appearing calm
Both teams’ benches cleared, as players and staff swung punches while Howard, 37, looked on
Video footage of the large scuffle shows Howard, 37, observing punches being thrown from the sidelines while appearing relatively calm and composed amid the fracas.
The eight-time NBA All-Star seemed to want to de-escalate the entire melee, acting as a peacemaker, as he wasn’t seen taking part in the fight prior to his ejection.
The game was reportedly held up for more than 20 minutes due to referees taking their time reviewing replay footage and evaluating punishment for each player in the fight.
Eventually 12 of them were ejected – five HeroBears and seven Leopards – including Howard.
After the game, which the Leopards won 108-120, Howard reportedly moaned about his ejection to referees, and said that he didn’t take part in any altercation.
Game footage even shows the former NBA center high-fiving fans as he and some of his fellow teammates walked down the arena’s tunnel. By the end of Sunday evening, Howard registered 28 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists
A day later and the former Laker shared that he was named in the T1 league’s first-ever three-point contest. He was also included in the league’s second-ever All-Star Game.
Howard moved to Taiwan and joined the Leopards in November after 18 seasons in the NBA. He last featured in the league for the Lakers during the 2021-22 season, and finally won a ring with LeBron James in the 2020 NBA bubble.
Howard, 37, reportedly claimed he was wrongfully ejected and high-fived fans on his way out
Howard moved to Taiwan and joined the Leopards in November after 18 seasons in the NBA
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