NBA gives LeBron James new reason to be angry
“lebron James (BOS) Flagrant Foul 1 against Robert Covington (PHI) at 0:1.1 of the 3rd qtr on 12/1/23 has been downgraded to a common foul upon league office review. https://nba.com/watch/video/76ers-at-celtics-dec-1″
The flagrant foul wasn’t the only thing James was angry at, but the technical came right after the flagrant foul and right before the break between the third and fourth quarters.
“Following a loose ball foul that was called on james continued to complain and was asked multiple times to head to his bench,” official Bill Kennedy said of the ejection in a pool report. “He continued to complain about the foul called on the floor and overtly gestures toward the officials and was assessed a second technical foul.”
James had 21 points and seven rebounds before his ejection.
“I was extremely surprised,” James said after the game. “Y’all all saw what happened. You might not know what I said, but I mean, I guess whatever I said doesn’t matter at this point. I don’t agree with that. One of the assistant coaches who was there with me doesn’t agree. But it doesn’t really matter, right? It’s like the ref’s word against ours.”
After his team overcame the star’s absence and won anyway, coach said he liked James fire.
“I actually like some of that,” the coach said. “I think some of that is important. Obviously, you don’t want it to get in the way of where it gets in the way of winning, but I think that type of passion and caring about it, I err on the side of I’d rather see that and then nothing at all. Sometimes pick and choose your spots, but I’m not going to say anything to him.”