There are a lot of LeBron James superfans out there, but a fan at the Lakers-Thunder on Monday night game definitely took things too far.
LeBron was sitting at the end of the bench and putting on his warmup shirt when an overzealous fan rushed up to him.
The fan put his hand on LeBron’s shoulder and started speaking to him while gesturing with his right hand.
A fan in the crowd captured the moment in the video below:
A fan from the Thunder-Lakers game runs up to Lebron #Lakers pic.twitter.com/1gk0wwgXMF
— FFraire_ (@Fernadad1) January 16, 2024
James was not having any of it, and shoved the fan in the chest to get him off.
Someone from arena security quickly moved the man on and he could be seen getting kicked out of the venue.
There was also footage of the aftermath, where James looks upset by it all.
A fan at tonight’s Lakers-Thunder game was kicked out after running up to LeBron James on the bench and putting his arms around him.
The fan was kicked out, and James was seen visibly upset. pic.twitter.com/FDQvjY2okY
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) January 16, 2024
The real question is, how was a fan able to get close enough to touch one of the greatest players to ever take the court?
Crypto.com Arena’s code of conduct says that they were well within their right to remove the man from the venue.
“Guests who engage in disruptive behavior (including foul/abusive language or obscene gestures), fighting, throwing objects, or attempting to enter the court/stage will be immediately ejected from the venue without refund or reimbursement,” it says.
The game continued without interruption and the purple and gold were able to notch a 112-105 win over OKC.
Unsurprisingly, LeBron filled out the stat sheet with 25 points, seven rebounds, six assists in 39 minutes.
Of course, LeBron having the status that he does means this isn’t the first time something like this has occurred.
In March of 2013, a Cavs fans sprinted onto the court and begged LeBron to go back to Cleveland.
In the 2020-21 season, other fans were ejected for the inappropriate nature of their yelling, aimed at James.
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