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This story first appeared on ClutchPoints.
Dwight Howard made waves when he decided to sign for the Taoyuan Leopards of the T1 League, the highest tier of professional basketball in Taiwan. Racking up stats like a 15-year-old playing on a Little Tikes hoop, Howard has made Leopards games must see. Just ask Shaquille O’Neal. And on Tuesday night, there was even more reason to tune in after “the biggest fight” in T1 League history broke out.
With the Leopards leading by 18, 120-102, with less than a minute left in the game, Howard’s teammate, guard Chen Hsiao-jung, was bringing the ball in the middle of the court. TaiwanBeer HeroBears guard Chiang Yu-an was Hsiao-jung’s primary defender. Setting up a pick-and-roll, Hsiao-jung wanted to dart towards the opposite direction of the pick. However, Hsiao-jung swung his arms wildly, and he ended up elbowing Yu-an straight onto his face.
Yu-an took exception to Hsiao-jung’s wild swing and shoved him; the two proceeded to square up as referees, coaches, and teammates swarmed the two to prevent the ruckus from escalating. However, just as the referee was leading Hsiao-jung towards the Leopards bench – towards Dwight Howard’s direction, who was not on the court during the altercation – HeroBears assistant coach Lin Chieh-ho decided to take vengeance into his own hands.
Dwight Howard, to his credit, was a pacifying force, choosing to get into the middle of the scrum to de-escalate the tension. However, officials decided to eject Howard, along with six other Leopards and five HeroBears, from the game. The altercation caused a 20-minute delay with the game out of the HeroBears’ reach.
Howard tallied 28 points, 14 rebounds, and 7 assists in a 120-108 winning effort for the Leopards. The Leopards, despite having won three games in a row, remain the worst team in the league with a 4-11 record.
After the game, Dwight Howard expressed his frustration over his ejection, saying that he was “wrongly singled out” and that his ejection was “unwarranted.” Howard’s Leopards have 15 more games to turn things around. If not, expect Shaquille O’Neal to put Howard on blast once more like he has done for the past few years or so.
– Rappler.com
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