LOOK: Dwight Howard Involved In Bench-Clearing Brawl In Taiwan

Dwight Howard’s post-NBA career has found new life in Taiwan as a member of the T1 League team Taoyuan Leopards.

However, he was recently involved in a bench-clearing incident during a game against the TaiwanBeer HeroBears, which featured a handful of players being ejected.

The Leopards were headed towards a decisive 120-102 victory over the HeroBears with less than a minute remaining in the game when Leopards guard Chen Hsiao-jung ended up elbowing HeroBears guard Chiang Yu-an.

Chiang, visibly incensed with the errant elbow, then went after Chen and shoved the Leopards guard back before the two squared up with one another and ignited a brawl that had referees desperately trying to separate the two players.

Because of the emotions running high during the moment, HeroBears assistant coach Lin Chieh-ho then decided he wanted a piece of Chen for elbowing his ward, throwing punches in the player’s direction as Chen backpedaled away from the altercation.

Lin was able to grab hold of Chen’s jersey as he swung a right-hand towards him, but the player evaded it and returned fire with a right hand of his own that connected on Lin’s face and caused him to stumble for a bit.

As the situation continued to escalate despite the referees’ best efforts, players and other personnel from both teams opted to help them out.

Despite being involved in a couple of fisticuffs and run-ins during his time in the NBA, Howard was among those who attempted to put a stop to the ensuing brawl.

Regardless of their intent, Howard and 11 other players were ejected when it was all over with the game being delayed for 20 minutes as the whole thing was trying to get sorted out.

Local news outlets stated that this was the “biggest fight in T1 League’s two-year history” with five HeroBears and seven Leopards personnel, including Howard, were ejected despite their good intentions.

Howard later explained that he felt that he did not deserve the ejection as he was among those trying to stop it from getting any worse than it did.

The three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year ended the night with 28 points, 14 rebounds, and seven assists to extend the Leopards’ winning streak to three and improve their record to 4-11.

It is to be expected that T1 League commissioner Chien Wei-Chuan will hand out subsequent punishments like fines and suspensions to those who were involved in the incident.

The former NBA star had signed with the Leopards in early November 2022 after being given a contract of over $1 million despite the ceiling for foreign players being only $200,000.

Below is a video of the entire incident: