Juwan Howard with an Open-Handed Punch/Slap
There always seems to be at least one viral sports moment each weekend, and here’s the latest:
Juwan Howard is throwing hands! pic.twitter.com/FLZuZjElDK
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) February 20, 2022
Is it a punch? A slap? Just a general hand-in-face attack? Only Juwan Howard really knows.
The context here is that Michigan was losing big to Wisconsin, and the Badgers had their backups in. Howard showed a full court press and Wisconsin’s guys had trouble breaking that press, so head coach Greg Gard calls timeout, which apparently is the source of the strife:
"Apparently, he didn't like that I called a timeout."
Wisconsin coach Greg Gard explains what led to the postgame fight with Juwan Howard and the Michigan team. pic.twitter.com/tjgRpGsCQB
— CBS Sports HQ (@CBSSportsHQ) February 20, 2022
Here's Juwan Howard's side to the story.
Added later that he felt he needed to protect himself, because Greg Gard touched him unnecessarily in the handshake line after he had gotten upset.#Badgers pic.twitter.com/hFWrEtBv1v
— Evan Flood (@Evan_Flood) February 20, 2022
Here’s a closer angle that also shows more of the aftermath, and you can hear “don’t fucking touch me” about 700 times in a row:
Caution: Unedited, NSFW language.
Here’s my full raw look at the events that led to the postgame brawl following the 77-63 #Wisconsin win over #Michigan.
You can see Juwan Howard say “I’ll remember that” to Greg Gard, who said tried explaining himself. pic.twitter.com/stBbFIGqTJ
— Pablo Iglesias (@PabloIglesiasTV) February 20, 2022
Anyway, people are calling for a multiple-game suspension here. That’s probably inevitable, right? Even if the Wisconsin coach did something to absolutely deserve the open-handed punch/slap, Howard would probably still be disciplined because you just can’t do it. Especially not as a head coach of a college basketball program tasked with setting an example for the “student athletes.” This wasn’t exactly malice at the palace, but still a bad look.