LeBron James wasn’t hearing the unwarranted advice one fan decided to offer during the Lakers game against the Pelicans on Sunday night. According to TMZ, the Lakers were taking a brutal loss against New Orleans from start to finish, garnering “boos” from most of the audience in Crypto.com Arena. Though, one fan in particular upset the basketball player the most after he heckled him from the sidelines.
Lakers started talking back to the hecklers after they were booed by their own home crowd during loss against Pelicans! 😢
Things are getting ugly with the Lakers as the season unwinds! 👀#lakers
#lebronjames
#russellwestbrook
#trevorariza
pic.twitter.com/gP4MoUfqCl— Sportskeeda Basketball (@Basketball_SK) February 28, 2022
The person who recorded the interaction says the heckler told James to play some defense. However, the athlete felt the need to respond, reminding the fan of their positions on the court.
“Tell me one thing you know about basketball besides the ball going in,” James clapped back.
It’s unclear what happened to the fan after the interaction, but it wasn’t the only tense moment in the game. Trevor Ariza was also caught exchanging heated words with someone in the crowd, calling the person a “b***h” multiple times. TMZ reports the person in the crowd that Ariza was speaking to was later escorted by security out of the arena.
Lakers general manager Jeanie Buss was also spotted getting out of her seat and walking away from the game as she watched her team continue its losing streak.
History has shown James doesn’t take too kindly to hecklers in the crowd attempting to throw off his game. The Lakers player was previously embroiled in another heckling situation in Feb. 2021, which left four Hawks fans ejected from the game in Atlanta after one woman sitting courtside appeared to give James the middle finger snd took off her mask to yell curse words at him.
Juliana Carlos, whom James referred to online as “Courtside Karen,” later apologized for the incident, saying she decided to speak up on behalf of her husband who she thought James yelled at. James was a good sport about the whole ordeal, telling reporters that it was just a good feeling to have fans back in the stands at games after the shutdown on basketball due to the pandemic.
“At the end of the day, I’m happy fans are back in the building. … I miss that interaction. … We as players need that interaction,” he said.
He also had another issue in Nov. 2021, where he had two Pacers fans ejected from a game for taunting the players.
