The Los Angeles Lakers picked up their 16th win of the young NBA season last night against the Atlanta Hawks, but the on-court play was far from the most noteworthy takeaway. LeBron James, typically praised for his positive interactions with fans, got into an altercation with a woman and her husband who were sitting courtside. The back-and-forth got so heated that officials stopped the game and ultimately kicked the couple out. She later went off on social media in a series of posts about the incident, and LeBron fired back, calling her “Courtside Karen” in his own tweet.
Details on what exactly happened are still a bit fuzzy, but everyone involved seems to agree the altercation started with Chris Carlos, or Daddy Carlos as he goes by on Instagram. He said something to James, which got the legendary NBA player’s attention. LeBron fired back, and Carlos’ wife, Juliana, absolutely went off. Here’s her version of events from an Instagram story she dropped afterwards…
Listen. Let me tell you: LeBron James looked at my husband during the game and cussed him out. I stood up and I go, ‘Don’t fucking talk to my husband. Talk to my husband one more time and I will fuck you up.’ And he started talking and goes, ‘Shut your mouth, dumb bitch.’ I go, ‘You shut your fucking mouth, bitch.’
Of course LeBron James had plenty to say about what happened too. He was nice about the incident after the game and said he didn’t think the fans should have been kicked out, but he later dropped a social media post addressing the incident, assumedly after seeing Juliana Carlos absolutely going off on Instagram, including in one Instagram story in which she called him "a fucking pussy” who “let a 25 year old girl intimidate (him) during a game.”
Of course both the commentary team doing the broadcast and the fans at home couldn’t get enough of the entire altercation. Some NBA fans took to speculating about what LeBron’s wife Savannah may have done if she was in attendance. Others focused on speculating about what the husband may have said. Later, after Juliana Carlos’ Instagram Stories, many questioned whether she was in fact 25, an allegation that caused her to release a partial screenshot of her passport.
Some footage with sound of the altercation was later released, and it’s definitely worth a watch too. LeBron calls the husband an “old steroid ass” and calls her “ranky.” You can check out this tremendous video from Jomboy breaking down the school yard taunts.
I love basketball. I don’t need any of this drama to enjoy watching a game, particularly a game that features Space Jam 2 star LeBron James, one of the greatest players to ever live. That being said, the occasional wild courtside incident can certainly liven things up, especially when the woman involved has an Instagram account that’s full of glamour shots, dog photos and pictures with 2 Chainz.
