LeBron James called out a fan after she was ejected for heckling him during a Los Angeles Lakers game on Monday night. The Lakers were playing the Atlanta Hawks, and the woman was seen verbally attacking James. The four-time NBA champion talked back to the fan, which led to her and three other people being escorted out by security, according to ESPN.
After the game, James posted a tweet that said, “Courtside Karen was MAD MAD.” with several laughing with crying face emojis. The fan, identified as Juliana Carlos, went to Instagram to explain what happen and blast James. During the altercation, Carlos can be heard saying “Shut the f— up. Don’t talk to my husband like that,” while standing on the sideline with her masked pulled down to her chin.
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“So, I’m minding my own business, and Chris [Carlos] has been a Hawks fan forever,” Carlos said in the Instagram video that is now deleted. “He’s been watching the games for 10 years. Whatever, he has this issue with LeBron. I don’t have an issue with LeBron. I don’t give a f— about LeBron. Anyway, I’m minding my own business, drinking my [beverage], having fun. All of the sudden, LeBron says something to my husband, and I see this and I stand up. And I go, ‘Don’t f—ing talk to my husband.’ And he looks at me and he goes, ‘Sit the f— down, b—.’ And I go, ‘Don’t f—ing call me a b—. You sit the f— down. Get the f— out of here. Don’t f—ing talk to my husband like that.’”
When James spoke to reporters after the game, he wasn’t asked about the name-calling allegation. However, he was happy to have fans in the building and was surprised Carlos and three other people were kicked out.
“At the end of the day, I’m happy fans are back in the building,” he said after recording 21 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds to help the Lakers earned a 107-99 win over the Hawks. “I miss that interaction. I need that interaction; we as players need that interaction. I don’t feel like it was warranted to be kicked out.” James also said that alcohol could have played a factor in the altercation.
