Lance Stevenson and Michael Beasley dominated the headlines with their $100,000 1v1 battle. Even though the former lost the matchup, it was a net gain as the eyeballs were on him during the Big3 debut. The foes turned teammates for Big3’s opening game, and they faced another former NBA star in Dwight Howard. Although the meeting ended up in a brawl, it still brought more views, and apparently, it was the reason behind their big altercation.

This season marked the debut matchup of both Lance Stephenson and Dwight Howard, who had been eagerly waiting for a comeback in the NBA. Well, ahead of his Hall of Fame honor, the former NBA player stepped up for his debut in the Big3. However, trouble kicked off from day one. The former Lakers player got into a near-brawl with Stephenson when they were standing too close to the stands. 

This was during the matchup between the LA Riot and Miami 305. The former Indiana Pacers player was seen elbowing Howard in the chest and was pushed back as well. Howard was even seen putting Stephenson in a headlock, quickly raising the tension with officials and teammates stepping in to break the two apart. The two locked up and tumbled out of bounds, with their momentum carrying them past the sideline and into the media area behind the basket.

This led to their ejection, and Dwight Howard, who was quiet until now, has finally spoken. “Oh, we was just trying to bring some attention to the league. There you go. Yeah, we was clip farming. That’s the new word, clip farming. We were fist farming.” For the uninitiated, Clip farming is a term which again signifies saying/doing things with the sole intention of grabbing attention. But the 3x DPOY jokingly blamed Ice Cube, the founder of Big3, for this altercation.

“So what’s up? We were trying to get more people to watch the big three. Was that not planned before? Ice Cube said, ‘Hey, I need y’all to fight. Dwight, you Deebo. I need you to come out there with your eyes crossed. And Lance, I need you to be somebody else.’ And that’s what ended up happening.” Even in the comments section of the post, the former champion dropped “😂😂😂,” making people wonder if the boss actually ordered this.

Dwight Howard extends his gratitude to Ice Cube for another chance

This year has been the year of second chances for Dwight Howard. For instance, the former Magic star ended his long-standing beef with Shaq O’Neal. Not only that, the Diesel will be the one to induct Howard in the Hall of Fame this year. Having had an exceptional career, which culminated with a championship ring with the Lakers in 2020, Howard last played in the NBA during the 21-22 season. Therefore, he was extremely grateful to Ice Cube for calling him out of the wilderness and giving him the opportunity to do what he does best: Hooping.

“Happy Birthday & Happy Fathers Day @icecube,” he wrote, “thank you for giving me this opportunity to help do greater things with you 💪🏾.” Even Ice Cube was very gracious when the former champion signed with the league. Ice Cube, the co-founder and voice behind the BIG3, couldn’t be more pumped. “His legacy speaks for itself, and he still has fun playing the game.” Howard is currently part of the LA Riot and seems determined to bring the championship to the city where he won his first and only ring.

But do you know why Dwight Howard was not given a bigger punishment?  This slight scuffle led to the ejection of both players, though they were not suspended, considering it was their debut game in the league, as per Chris Haynes. Week 1 is done, and there is a loss and ejection already in Howard’s record books. Hopefully, week 2 won’t be the same as genuine fans might turn away from constant fights.