Stewart suspended 7 games and 3 other players are penalized for fighting in Pistons-Hornets game

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff defended his team Wednesday after the NBA handed out four suspensions from a fight in the Pistons' game against the Charlotte Hornets.

“The narrative that’s out there that we react to everything, every time, is a disappointing one, to be honest with you," Bickerstaff said before the Pistons' game in Toronto.

Detroit center Isaiah Stewart was suspended seven games by the league, while three other players were also penalized for their roles in Monday's fight.

Hornets forwards Miles Bridges and Moussa Diabaté were each suspended four games for fighting and escalating the altercation, while Pistons center Jalen Duren got two games for initiating the altercation and fighting, the league announced.

But the heaviest penalty went to Stewart, with the league saying it was based in part on his “repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts.” The league said he left the bench area, aggressively entered an on-court altercation, and fought.

Stewart has been suspended five times, including once for an altercation with LeBron James in 2021. He was suspended twice last season, including last April in an altercation with the Minnesota Timberwolves that spilled over into the stands.

“You’re hearing all this stuff about what our guys are and it’s completely inaccurate,” Bickerstaff said. “If they reacted to everything that happened to them, we would never have a basketball game. To highlight the rare moments and make that the story is disrespectful to our guys as basketball players.”

As for whether he thought the punishment was fair, Bickerstaff said, “I would have liked to see Stew’s number being less, obviously. But as a group, we kind of accepted it, what it is.”

The suspensions began Wednesday night for all four players.

Hornets coach Charles Lee, who was ejected from the game in the fourth quarter for arguing a call, said he understands the decision handed down by James Jones, the NBA's executive vice president/head of basketball operations.

“We made a choice in that moment and our actions put us in a situation where we have to take the medicine as the league hands out — and do better next time," Lee said.

Diabate, Bridges, Duren and Stewart were all ejected from the Pistons’ 110-104 win following a melee in the third quarter.

Duren was driving toward the basket when he was fouled by Diabate. Duren turned around to get face-to-face with Diabate and the two appeared to butt heads. Duren then shoved Diabate in the face with his open hand and things escalated from there.

While Pistons forward Tobias Harris was holding Diabate back, Diabate threw a punch at Duren. Duren walked away and Bridges got involved by charging at him, throwing a left-handed punch. Duren retaliated with a punch. Diabate attempted to charge again at Duren and had to be held back.

Stewart left the bench to confront Bridges, who responded with a punch, and the players tussled. At one point, Stewart rushed to throw a punch at Bridges and missed, but Stewart appeared to get Bridges in a headlock and delivered multiple left-handed blows toward his head.

Duren spoke after the game, calling it an “overly competitive game,” adding that “emotions were flaring. At the end of the day, we would love to keep it basketball, but things happen. Everybody was just playing hard.”

Following practice on Tuesday, Diabate apologized to the Hornets organization and to the fans for his role in the altercation and vowed not to let it happen again.

“When he put his hand in my face, that’s when I think I lost control of it,” Diabate said.

The Pistons are in first place in the Eastern Conference. Charlotte is fighting for a playoff spot and had won nine straight games — one shy of tying a franchise record — before the loss.

Charlotte Hornets forward Moussa Diabate is held back as he fights with Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren (0) during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)

Charlotte Hornets forward Moussa Diabate, front right, is held back as he fights Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren (0) on the court in the second half of an NBA basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)

Charlotte Hornets forward Brandon Miller, right, holds back Hornets head coach Charles Lee, left, who yells at an official during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Detroit Pistons in Charlotte, N.C., Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. Lee was ejected from the game. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)

Charlotte Hornets forward Moussa Diabate, front right, is held back as he fights with Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren (0) fight during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans rushed to approve legislation on Wednesday that would impose strict new proof-of-citizenship requirements ahead of the midterm elections, a long shot Trump administration priority that faces sharp blowback in the Senate.

The bill, called the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE America Act, would require Americans to prove they are citizens when they register to vote, mostly through a valid U.S. passport or birth certificate. It would also require a valid photo identification before voters can cast ballots, which some states already demand. It was approved on a mostly party-line vote, 218-213.

Republicans said the legislation is needed to prevent voter fraud, but Democrats warn it will disenfranchise millions of Americans by making it harder to vote. Federal law already requires that voters in national elections be U.S. citizens, but there’s no requirement to provide documentary proof. Experts said voter fraud is extremely rare, and very few noncitizens ever slip through the cracks. Fewer than one in 10 Americans don't have paperwork proving they are citizens.

“Some of my colleagues will call this voter suppression or Jim Crow 2.0,” said Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., presenting the package at a committee hearing.

But he said “those allegations are false,” and he argued the bill is needed to enforce existing laws, particularly those that bar immigrants who are not citizens from voting. “The current law is not strong enough,” he said.

The GOP's sudden push to change voting rules at the start of the midterm election season is raising red flags, particularly because President Donald Trump has suggested he wants to nationalize U.S. elections, which, under the Constitution, are designed to be run by individual states.

The Trump administration recently seized ballots in Georgia from the 2020 election, which the president insists he won despite his defeat to Democrat Joe Biden. The Department of Justice is demanding voter rolls from states, including Michigan, where a federal judge this week dismissed the department's lawsuit seeking the voter files. Secretaries of state have raised concerns that voters' personal data may be shared with Homeland Security to verify citizenship and could result in people being unlawfully purged from the rolls.

“Let me be clear what this is about: It’s about Republicans trying to rig the next election,” said Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the Rules Committee, during a hearing ahead of the floor vote. “Republicans are pushing the Save America Act because they want fewer Americans to vote. It’s that simple.”

The legislation is actually a do-over of a similar bill the House approved last year, which also sought to clamp down on fraudulent voting, particularly among noncitizens. It won the support of four House Democrats, but stalled in the Republican-led Senate.

This version toughens some of the requirements further, while creating a process for those whose names may have changed, particularly during marriage, to provide the paperwork necessary and further attest to their identity.

It also imposes requirement on states to share their voter information with the Department of Homeland Security, as a way to verify the citizenship of the names on the voter rolls. That has drawn pushback from elections officials as potentially intrusive on people's privacy.

The new rules in the bill would take effect immediately, if the bill is passed by both chambers of Congress and signed into law.

But with primary elections getting underway next month, critics said the sudden shift would be difficult for state election officials to implement and potentially confuse voters.

Voting experts have warned that more than 20 million U.S. citizens of voting age do not have proof of their citizenship readily available. Almost half of Americans do not have a U.S. passport.

“Election Day is fast approaching,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. “Imposing new federal requirements now, when states are deep into their preparations, would negatively impact election integrity by forcing election officials to scramble to adhere to new policies likely without the necessary resources.”

In the Senate, where Republicans also have majority control, there does not appear to be enough support to push the bill past the chamber's filibuster rules, which largely require 60 votes to advance legislation.

That frustration has led some Republicans, led by Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, to push for a process that would skip the 60-vote threshold in this case, and allow the bill to be debated through a so-called standing filibuster — a process that would open the door to potentially endless debate.

Lee made the case to GOP senators at a closed-door lunch this week, and some said afterward they are mulling the concept.

“I think most people’s minds are open,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., “My mind's certainly open.”

But Murkowski of Alaska said she is flat out against the legislation.

“Not only does the U.S. Constitution clearly provide states the authority to regulate the ‘times, places, and manner’ of holding federal elections, but one-size-fits-all mandates from Washington, D.C., seldom work in places like Alaska,” she said.

Karen Brinson Bell of Advance Elections, a nonpartisan consulting firm, said the bill adds numerous requirements for state and local election officials with no additional funding.

“Election officials have a simple request of Congress — that you help share their burdens not add to them,” she said.

This story has been corrected to fix a statistic. Fewer than one in 10 Americans do not have paperwork proving they are citizens; an earlier version incorrectly said fewer than one in 10 have valid passports.

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Associated Press writer Kevin Freking contributed to this report.

FILE - A Vote Here sign is posted amongst political signs as people arrive to vote at the Rutherford County Annex Building, an early voting site, Oct. 17, 2024, in Rutherfordton, N.C. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek, File)

Information paper sits on a printer next to a touchscreen voting machine at New Chicago Voter Supersite in Chicago, Tuesday, Feb.10, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

FILE- Voting booths are set up at a polling place in Newtown, Pa, April 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)