LeBron James’ response to heckling fans proves why he’s the GOAT

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James explained what went down during Monday night’s game against the Atlanta Hawks.

On Monday night, the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Atlanta Hawks 107-99 to extend their winning streak to two games. The game itself didn’t make the headlines. Rather, it was an exchange between Lakers star LeBron James and fans sitting at courtside for the game, which included a woman pulling down her mask to scream at the four-time NBA champion.

James was asked about the situation in a postgame press conference, and downplayed the situation. The Lakers star said that he and the man sitting courtside said their piece and the woman got involved to say what was on her mind. James said he didn’t think getting ejected from the game was warranted.

As for pulling down the masks, James said the Lakers weren’t too close to the fans, but mentioned the referees were in proximity and hoped that they are okay.

Four fans were ejected from the game

According to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, four fans were ejected from the contest including the two fans who heckled James.

James mentioned that he wasn’t bothered by the exchange. In fact, James said he missed interacting with fans during games and was glad some were permitted into State Farm Arena on Monday night. Having arenas jam-packed is not in the picture right now, as the coronavirus continues to spread across the globe.

Last week, James got into another interaction with an individual sitting courtside for a Lakers game. In his first game back in Cleveland since joining the Lakers in 2018, Cavaliers basketball chief of staff Jason Hillman excitedly clapped after James missed a shot as the third quarter expired. James glared over at his direction, took Hillman’s glee as a challenge and proceeded to score 26 points in the final quarter to give the Lakers the 115-108 win.

James recorded 21 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds while shooting 5-of-12 from the field in Los Angeles’ win over Atlanta.