The beef began on February 9, 2026 at the Spectrum Center when a physical sequence between Pistons center Jalen Duren and Hornets forward Moussa Diabaté escalated: Diabaté and Duren had face-to-face contact, Bridges entered the scuffle and threw punches toward Duren, and Isaiah Stewart left the Pistons bench to confront Bridges, briefly applying a headlock and landing blows on him [2][3][15]. That one-on-one sequence between Stewart and Bridges — isolated amid a broader, bench-clearing melee — turned what might have been a team-level incident into a personal confrontation captured on video and replayed across media [2][3]. The NBA suspended Stewart seven games and Bridges four games two days later, a decision that referenced Stewart’s prior league discipline while media coverage also noted Bridges’ 2023 legal case as contextual background [1][8][10]. Bridges’ postgame apology to Hornets fans and pointed social-media comments directed at Stewart solidified the conflict as both physical and personal [15][17].
As of the NBA’s Feb. 11, 2026 disciplinary release, Isaiah Stewart was suspended seven games and Miles Bridges four games for their roles in the Feb. 9 altercation; the league cited Stewart’s prior disciplinary history in explaining the longer ban [1]. Bridges posted an apology to Hornets fans while also criticizing Stewart on social media, and Stewart defended leaving the bench as protecting teammates in postgame comments — leaving the situation unresolved and publicly fraught [15][17][20][1].
There is documented, public hostility stemming from the Feb. 9, 2026 confrontation — a direct physical exchange plus pointed social-media comments — but neither player has used the word "hate"; both made defensive statements (Bridges apologized to Hornets fans while criticizing Stewart on social media [15][17]; Stewart said he left the bench to protect teammates [20]).
The immediate trigger was a third-quarter altercation between Jalen Duren and Moussa Diabaté on Feb. 9, 2026 that escalated; Bridges threw punches in that sequence and Stewart left the bench to confront Bridges, producing a one-on-one clash that became the focal point of their personal dispute [2][3][15].
There is no public evidence of reconciliation: both players made public comments after the incident (Bridges' apology and social-media remarks [15][17]; Stewart's justification for leaving the bench [20]) and both served suspensions, but no public meeting or joint statement signaling a truce has been reported.