Jarnell Stokes and Kailin Lucas were ejected from an NBA Developmental League game on Tuesday night after getting into a fight, which by itself does not warrant headlines — until you realize that Stokes and Lucas are teammates, and they got into a fight during a timeout huddle.
What happened to precipitate the skirmish is unclear, because the only thing we have to go on is a blurry, looping video with terribly cheesy background music that I find it impossible to believe a human being took the time to compose. Basically it’s like an old-timey silent movie — in the foreground a ref stands patiently waiting for play to resume, then notices a commotion in the background as the two teammates go at it. Then at the end of the video, the Iowa Energy mascot strolls by covering his mouth with his index finger. All we’re missing is a banana peel accompanied by a slide trombone sound effect.
What we do know for sure is that Stokes and Lucas are teammates on the Energy, who are the D-League affiliate of the Memphis Grizzlies. According to the Des Moines Register, the Energy were up 82-78 in the third quarter when the incident occurred. Both were having good games — Lucas had 18 points and Stokes 16.
The report states that Lucas was bloodied in the incident, which makes sense — the Michigan State product is 6-foot-1 and weighs 55 pounds less than the 6-7, 250-bill Stokes. Both were escorted to the locker room, though we’ve also got no way of knowing what happened at that point.
This would not be a first in the history of team sports. Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano famously slugged catcher Michael Barrett in the dugout in 2007. I’ve even participated in a teammate fight myself, getting into a tussle with some smarmy douche named Greg in my tee-ball dugout. True story. Everyone on the team hated that kid, so that’s how I won everyone else over. It’s unclear whether Jarnell Stokes or Kailin Lucas is the Greg of the Iowa Energy, but it remains a distinct possibility.
