There are nine teams in the NBA that are currently allowing a limited number of fans in their arenas and already twice on this East coast road trip, LeBron James has found himself the target of some courtside jawing.
Last week, it was a Cavaliers’ executive excitedly clapping and yelling after James missed a jumper to end the third quarter, which LeBron said after the game gave him the spark he needed to torch the Cavs in the fourth as the Lakers ran away with a win. On Monday, James and the Lakers were in Atlanta where fans were courtside and in the fourth quarter, referees stopped the game to have security come and eject two women who were standing and yelling at James — with their masks not on.
Refs stop the game after a Hawks fan heckles LeBron pic.twitter.com/NsoFjyel97
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 2, 2021
Atlanta. pic.twitter.com/EIdkzDoBGv
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) February 2, 2021
The two women would be escorted off the floor and, per The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner, one gave the old two finger salute on her way out.
Two women and two men have been escorted off the court. One of the women left with middle fingers up toward the court. https://t.co/qlQGlsYIBm
— Chris Kirschner (@ChrisKirschner) February 2, 2021
The lack of overall fans in the stands makes any courtside talking stand out, and it certainly didn’t seem like James was getting too bothered by it as he laughed with some of his teammates and Hawks players at the free throw line. Still, given everything going on, a fan being courtside and barking at players with a mask as a chinstrap isn’t a great look and there probably needs to be a bit more aggressive policing of mask policies, at the very least, for those seated courtside.
