LeBron Claims Only “Kung-Fu Master” Could Purposely Elbow Roy Hibbert

The Pacers-Heat game last night was appropriately referred to as a blood bath by most media members. It wasn’t just Lance Stephenson and Dwyane Wade that got into it, either. LeBron James was whistled for a flagrant foul 1 after his elbow knocked Roy Hibbert woozy during a drive in the fourth quarter. LeBron claimed he “must be a kung-fu master” if he did so intentionally.

Here’s the play from last night:

A couple things after re-watching this a few times. Hibbert spent a minute lying prone on the ground after getting hit, but you can see he was able to get his left hand over and prevent a possible continuation shot by ‘Bron. You gotta give Hibbert props because he definitely got hit hard and still fought to prevent ‘Bron the and-1 opportunity. But was LeBron’s elbow intentional?

James appears to be leading with that elbow on the shot attempt, but it’s a basketball play and nothing about his body makes it look deliberately malicious. As LeBron notes after the game, that would be some kung-fu ish, which is why “Everybody was Kung-Fu Fighting” has been running around in our head all morning.

LeBron on his flagrant: “If I can jump up in the air and elbow someone in the face and finish a play, I must be a kung-fu master.”

— Jason Lieser (@PBPjasonlieser) March 27, 2014

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According to the NBA’s interpretation of the rules, a Flagrant 1, which is what James got for the hit, “is unnecessary contact committed by a player against an opponent.” Not sure James would have been able to account for where exactly Hibbert’s mug was going to be once he was airborne, but he was assessed the Flagrant 1 anyway.

James finished with a game-high 38 points to go with eight rebounds, five dimes and six turnovers â€” three of which were costly in the fourth quarter.

But one thing we do know: Carl Douglas‘ single from ’74 is a classic for a reason: