Trash talk and scuffles? That’s just part of the NBA’s DNA. We’ve seen it all—from KD and Draymond’s heated Warriors spat to Chris Paul and Rajon Rondo literally swinging at each other in 2018. Sometimes, the tension boils over and things get physical. But one of the wildest face-offs recently didn’t even happen in the NBA—it went down in the Big3. Just last month, Dwight Howard and Lance Stephenson turned their debut game into a full-blown showdown.

When the Big3 tipped off its new season, no one expected the opening act to be part basketball, part wrestling match. But that’s exactly what happened when Dwight Howard and Lance Stephenson turned a game between LA Riot and Miami 305 into a full-on headline-grabbing brawl. It started courtside—one elbow from Lance, one shove from Dwight, and suddenly the two were locked up in a messy scuffle that spilled out into the media area. Officials jumped in, teammates pulled them apart, and both were ejected.

Lance Stephenson has finally broken his silence after the chaotic Big3 scuffle with Dwight Howard—and his reaction is exactly what you’d expect: bold, unfiltered, and laced with swagger. In a video shared by Ball Is Life on Instagram, Lance shrugged it all off with a grin, saying, “You know, we real competitive, you know? I don’t like to be pushed hard and bullied, so I took it upon myself to show that you can’t mess with the small guy all the time because I’m going to come back for you.” Then he laughed it off and casually walked back to practice, like it was just another day in the gym.

But Howard wasn’t Lance’s only run-in that night. Earlier in the same game, Stephenson got into it with Riot guard Jordan Crawford. Crawford, 36, raised his arm and caught Lance in the face, sparking a brief scuffle before officials stepped in to separate them. And if you thought Stephenson would cool down postgame—you guessed wrong. After the final buzzer, he jumped on Instagram to call out Howard’s entire vibe, writing, “He had 10 fouls, pushing everybody, he was outta control,” according to screenshots shared by BallIsLife.com.

Still, Stephenson made it clear the game wasn’t just about drama—it was about grit. In another comment, he defended the physical nature of the showdown: “They was playing real physical out there so these ain’t no antic. This is what getting after it look like. Great team win 🔥.” The Miami 305 ended up defeating the LA Riot 50–44, with Lance dropping 16 points, three boards, and an assist. Howard put up 10 and seven, but by the end of the night, it was clear—this matchup was personal, and Stephenson wasn’t about to let anything slide.

Dwight Howard reacts to Big3 scuffle, shifts blame to Ice Cube

Dwight Howard has always had a flair for the dramatic—and when the Big3 scuffle with Lance Stephenson blew up online, he wasn’t about to downplay it. In classic Dwight fashion, he leaned right into the chaos. “Oh, we was just trying to bring some attention to the league,” he joked. “Yeah, we was clip farming. That’s the new word, clip farming. We were fist farming.”

And just when people thought he might be serious, he turned it into a whole skit, pinning the whole thing on Big3 founder Ice Cube. “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.” If it was staged, Dwight deserves an Emmy.

Ice Cube, for his part, didn’t exactly squash the theatrics either. When asked about the altercation on The Breakfast Club, the rapper-turned-basketball-visionary just shrugged with that signature Cube calm. “Dwight gotta protect himself out there,” he said. “They was trying to put some intimidation down, but Dwight wasn’t having it.”

He made it clear: this league is for grown men with something to prove—and Dwight Howard wasn’t about to back down from anyone. Cube might not have scripted the brawl, but he clearly understood the entertainment value. After all, this is the Big3. It’s physical, it’s personal, and sometimes, it gets a little wild.

“Let me tell y’all something you ain’t never seen in your life—a 6-11 dragon master like this,” Dwight Howard declared in peak post-brawl mode, and honestly, he wasn’t kidding. Just days after things got heated in the Big3, the former NBA star dropped a hilariously intense martial arts video that looked more like a movie trailer than a workout clip.

In it, Howard—gritting his teeth and locked in—grabbed a basketball, raised his knee, and shouted “A Lance” before smashing a cardboard cutout (yep, it looked just like Stephenson) into pieces. “Watch how I jump in the air and knock the wood out,” he added, right before doing exactly that. It was part flex, part roast, and 100% Dwight, who clearly hasn’t lost his taste for the spotlight—or the theatrics.

With tension still simmering and both players doubling down postgame, the Big3 opener proved one thing—this league isn’t just about nostalgia, it’s about fire. And Lance Stephenson? He’s making sure nobody forgets it.