Despite flailing around, screaming, and dropping to his knees while crying on the court, LeBron James still didn’t get his way toward the end of regulation during the Lakers’ recent loss to the Boston Celtics.
LeBron James via ESPN YouTube
During what would have been the shot to end the game and deliver the Lakers a surefire victory as James leapt for the hoop, the referees missed a very obvious call, which was evidently clear in the replay, which showed a Celtics player smacking James’ arm as he was within inches of scoring.
While it is understandable that anyone would be rightfully upset in the same situation, James, a 38-year-old man, took things to another level by throwing an incredibly childish tantrum when the referees wouldn’t call the foul on the Celtics.
Tied at that point 105-105, James could be seen screaming, jumping around manically, and even going as far as to collapse to the ground crying. Could James have rebounded and helped his team take home a last minute win during the five minutes of overtime they had at their disposal? Maybe.
However, the Celtics won the night with a score of 125-121, and it was evident that James’ own self-defeating mentality is what killed his drive, as well as his team’s motivation, to make any difference. All because he didn’t get his way with the referee’s call.
Yes, did he have the right to be upset. And should the Celtics have been called for the foul for when he was driving to the hoop? Absolutely, no arguments here.
LeBron James via Chaz NBA YouTube
Did he have to behave like a two-year old and thus throw out all focus absolutely destroying any chance of securing a win? Nope.
Well, because of his antics, he’s now secured himself as a viral meme for the foreseeable future thanks to his dramatic performance that makes what he did in Space Jam 2 look Shakespearean by comparison. Just look at some of the reactions from Twitter alone.
“When she sends you that ‘have a nice life’ text while you at the club!!” commented Twitter user BigGroov, who posted the clip of James’ fit.
https://twitter.com/stormGroov/status/1619818994311241729?s=20&t=jgYVoY–o2cMq7qzjPBnzw
One Twitter user got a little creative and did a comparison of James’ crying session to a scene from “Little Miss Sunshine.”
LeBron James x Little Miss Sunshinepic.twitter.com/KvvG5gfLDx
— Troll Sports (@TroIISports) January 29, 2023
If anything, at least James can say his plea to the referees and feelings about the missed call were to a degree justified when crew chief Eric Lewis admitted to the missed call.
“There was contact,” Lewis said after the game to ESPN. “At the time, during the game, we did not see a foul. The crew missed the play.”
LeBron James upset after no call from referees via ESPN YouTube
Well what do you think? Justified rage or just an immature athlete who let his emotions control him? Let us know in the comments below.