Four fans on the court – at least one of whom didn’t cover her face with a mask – were kicked out of the game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Atlanta Hawks after a verbal row with Lakers star LeBron James, the Hawks confirmed to ESPN.
Juliana Carlos, who later posted to social media, and her husband, Chris Carlos, exchanged words with James in the fourth quarter of the visiting Lakers’ 107-99 victory, leading to the eviction.
Juliana Carlos posted a video to her Instagram account showing the scene shortly after State Farm Arena security personnel and one of the referees, Mitchell Ervin, intervened.
She can be heard saying, “Shut up. Don’t talk to my husband like that,” as she stood on the sidelines with her mask pulled under her chin. Someone off camera can hear her asking to put on her mask, which is required by all fans attending NBA games this season. She wrote “f — ing loser” in a text box accompanying the video, her camera pointed at James.
After ejecting, Carlos posted a selfie-style video, detailing what had happened.
“So I watch my own business, and Chris has always been a Hawks fan. He’s been watching the games for 10 years. Anyway, he’s got this problem with LeBron. I don’t have a problem with LeBron. I don’t LeBron doesn’t care, “she says in the video.” Anyway, I watch my own business, drink my [beverage], having fun. Suddenly, LeBron says something to my husband, and I see this and I get up. And I say, “Don’t talk to my husband.” And he looks at me and he says, “Sit down, bitch.” And I say, ‘Don’t call me a bitch. You sit down. Get the f — out of here. Don’t talk to my husband like that. ”
James was not asked about Carlos’ accusation of swearing after the game, but he was not surprised by the incident, saying he felt there was no need for a throwout.
“At the end of the day, I’m glad the fans are back in the building,” he said after racking up 21 points, nine assists and seven rebounds to help LA win on the road. “I miss that interaction. I need that interaction; we as players need that interaction. I don’t feel it was justified to be kicked out.”
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LeBron James acknowledges that he lacks interaction with fans and is unsure whether the spectators should have been removed from the game.
He did say that alcohol could have been a factor.
“Maybe they had a few drinks,” he said. And they probably could have kept it going during the game, and the game was not going to be about the game anymore, so I think the referees did what they had to do.
James also said that Chris Carlos went “beyond the bounds” with whatever he directed against him. “I suspect [Carlos] said something that rubbed the big dawg the wrong way, ”added Lakers center Montrezl Harrell.
Although James said he wasn’t close enough to the fans to potentially be compromised by Juliana Carlos taking off her mask, other members of the Lakers found it unacceptable.
“It certainly uncovered something about having fans in the pandemic,” said Lakers coach Frank Vogel. “Of course you cannot have fans take off their masks and shout at our players with the virus in these times.”
“Of course, now that COVID is underway, we can’t have that,” LA big man Anthony Davis repeated. “We want to make sure we can all be safe.”
James later tweeted about Carlos, giving her a derisive nickname often used to mock white women.
The Hawks are one of nine NBA teams currently allowing fans to attend their home games. According to a team official, Atlanta’s State Farm Arena currently allows up to 8% of its capacity for Hawks games. Monday’s announced turnout was 1,341.
Despite the episode, several Lakers still supported fans coming to their games.
“We love having fans with the game. Whether we’re at home or away, it just brings back the game we love, that joy of the fans and the support,” said Davis. “Whether it’s 500 people or 1,000, 1,500, whatever it is, it’s always fun to play in front of an audience.”
“I love our fans,” James repeated. “Laker Nation and everyone else against Laker Nation. It just feels better. Fans in the stands are just – it’s just better. It’s better for everyone – especially on the final game of a 14-day road trip.”