Some words just won’t be tolerated. They strike a nerve with some people and once the word’s escaped the lips, all bets are off about the ensuing reaction. With inside of three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter of Game 4, as his Cavaliers were trying to mount a comeback against the Warriors, LeBron James heard such a word. Watching on television, the imbroglio between Draymond Green and James appeared to be of the physical variety.
After James and Green got tangled at the top of the key where Draymond was trying to set a pick, LeBron appeared to knock him to the court and step over him. For some, that’s a big no-no, as Charles Barkley mentioned in his post-game interview with Draymond. Green responded to the step-over by whipping his hand at LeBron and appearing to connect with his groin area. As we know from earlier in the playoffs, Dray’s got a history with the low-blow hits.
That led to some jawing at each other and both were whistled for fouls on the ensuing rebound attempt before teammates and the refs jumped in to separate them. But LeBron was visibly incensed, which — as his Jay-Z explanation from last month details — is not like him.
It was clear in James’ post-game comments, something else about the snafu is what got him going.
“Draymond just said something that I don’t agree with,” LeBron said via ESPN.com. “I’m all cool with the competition. I’m all fine with that, but some of the words that came out of his mouth were a little bit overboard.”
“Being a guy with pride, a guy with three kids and a family, things of that nature, some things just go overboard, and that’s where he took it, and that was it.”
A source told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin the word Draymond used to set James off was “b***h.”
That word might seem gentle or harmless to some, it certainly is with me, but to James and lots of others, it’s inappropriate.
James felt it was too far, even in the heat of a crucial NBA Finals game, and that’s why LeBron seemed so abnormally fired up about the exchange. Unfortunately, he and his team weren’t able to capitalize on that anger and emotion until it was too late and now they face elimination on Monday night in Oakland.
(ESPN)
