LeBron James Under Fire for Horribly Blatant Travel, Walking onto Court with No Shoes: 'Disrespect'
Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James is under fire for a pair of incidents that occurred during his team’s win over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday.
James scored 20 points to go along with 12 assists in the 121-96 victory, though his solid performance was arguably overshadowed by a pair of controversies.
The first took place in the first half as James was bringing the ball up the court.
As he approached the top of the key, he stopped dribbling and instead kept the ball in his hand.
After taking three steps with the ball in his hand, he started dribbling again, which is a blatant violation of the rules.
The referees, however, didn’t call a travel:
LMAO LeBron ? pic.twitter.com/62xwLe8aD0
— House of Highlights (@HoHighlights) December 5, 2019
Here’s a zoomed-in version, just in case you didn’t see it the first time:
This is not a travel…except everywhere else on earth! ?? #LebronJames #LeBron #TakeNote #LALatUTA pic.twitter.com/kMHyuygPab
— Dave Fox (@Davefox2) December 5, 2019
In James’ defense, he seemed to realize he had gotten away with one.
“That’s one of the worst ones I’ve ever done in my life,” he was heard telling a fan later on in the game.
Seems like LeBron found out about his travel at halftime ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ pic.twitter.com/ll8egROAHf
— ESPN (@espn) December 5, 2019
“It was the worst thing, probably one of the worst things I’ve ever done in my career,” he added to reporters after the win, according to ESPN. “I didn’t realize I did it until halftime. One of my coaches showed me.”
The blatant travel wasn’t the only controversial thing James did during the game.
Late in the fourth quarter, with the Lakers up by 20 and LeBron out of the game, the superstar ventured from the Lakers’ bench onto the court in the middle of a play.
As one of his teammates made a block, James celebrated. And making matters worse, he wasn’t wearing any shoes.
Listen to how salty the Jazz announcers sound ????? pic.twitter.com/u0FVkIZf3x
— Kevin ??♂️ (@klew24) December 5, 2019
“Look at LeBron, he’s on the court,” color commentator Matt Harpring of AT&T SportsNet said, as Awful Announcing reported.
“With no shoes, mind you,” play-by-play man Craig Bolerjack added.
Neither announcer was pleased.
“What the heck is going on here?” Harpring asked.
“That’s some disrespect right there. Please. This isn’t playground ball,” Bolerjack said.
Harpring added: “I mean they are clowning right now, on that bench side.”
LeBron is out here jumping around on the court with no shoes on in the middle of the game? pic.twitter.com/UnTh5KIqQJ
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) December 5, 2019
There actually was a reason that James wasn’t wearing any shoes.
Moments prior, he had signed his sneakers and given them to a young fan in the stands.
A King on and off the court. #ThisIsWhyWePlay pic.twitter.com/TKp0LsVnmO
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) December 5, 2019
James, for his part, responded to the controversy with defiance Thursday on Instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5srqgwgz0A/
“Imagine doing your job at the highest level to where you’re not needed anymore, giving your shoes to a lil girl and boy who you inspire and hoped you made proud that night, then cheering on your teammates cause you love seeing them succeed more than yourself only to be criticized while doing it,” James wrote.
“People it’s the world we live in and you can’t let it ever stop you from your purpose in life. Negativity, bad energy, hate, envy, etc etc will try to bring you down throughout your journey and it’s up to you on how you handle it,” he added.
“I handle it by simply saying ‘Thank You’ with a [smile] on my face and continue to push forward while doing it!”
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