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Former NBA champion Dwight Howard, 37, is ejected along with ELEVEN other players in a massive brawl in Taiwan’s basketball league.
Dwight Howard was among a group of 12 players thrown out of 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 left in the game, HeroBears captain and point guard Chian Yu-an was elbowed in the face by Leopards guard Chen Hsiao-jung, sparking a brawl. on the court.
Both players clashed and began throwing punches as teammates and referees tried to break them up.
The fight then turned into a huge mass wrestling matchup and things started to turn sour when HeroBears’ assistant trainer Lin Chieh-ho aggressively went after Hsiao-jung, footage shows.
The coach was unable to land a punch on the guard, who retaliated before game officials stepped in to intervene.
Chian Yu-an was elbowed in the face by Chen Hsiao-jung, which sparked a fight in Sunday’s match.
Dwight Howard apparently acted as a peacemaker from the sidelines of the court, appearing calm.
The benches for both teams were cleared, as players and staff threw punches as Howard, 37, looked on.
Video footage from the big fight shows Howard, 37, watching punches being thrown from the sidelines while appearing relatively calm and collected in the middle of the fight.
The eight-time NBA All-Star appeared to want to calm down the entire melee, acting as a peacemaker, as he was not seen participating in the fight prior to his ejection.
Play was reportedly stopped for more than 20 minutes as referees took their time reviewing replay footage and assessing the punishment for each player in the fight.
Ultimately, 12 of them were ejected, five HeroBears and seven Leopards, including Howard.
After the game, which the Leopards won 108-120, Howard allegedly complained about his ejection to the officials, saying he was not involved in any altercation.
Footage from the game even shows the former NBA center high-fiving fans as he and some of his teammates walked through the arena tunnel. By the end of Sunday night, Howard had 28 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists.
A day later, the former Laker shared that he was named in the first three-point contest in the T1 league. He was also named to the league’s second All-Star Game.
Howard moved to Taiwan and joined the Leopards in November after 18 NBA seasons. He last appeared in the league for the Lakers during the 2021-22 season, eventually earning a ring with LeBron James in the 2020 NBA bubble.
Howard, 37, reportedly claimed he was unfairly kicked out and high-fived fans as he was leaving.
Howard moved to Taiwan and joined the Leopards in November after 18 NBA seasons.