LeBron James exited Game 2 of the Cavs vs. Celtics in the second quarter after he ate Jayson Tatum’s shoulder on a drive to the basket. Injuries happen every day, and even though James has been invincible much of his career, he’s not exempt from that rule.
Boston fans booing LeBron’s injury are the latest reminder you should never, ever do that
LeBron exited in the 2nd quarter with a head injury, but Celtics fans cheered on his exit. That’s not OK.
But what transpired while LeBron walked off the court, dazed and in pain, should not happen. It’s disrespectful to the game of basketball, to the work the players put in in perfecting their craft. To be honest, it’s straight up classless, and it needs to stop.
A pocket of Celtics fans cheered while LeBron gingerly walked into the tunnel on his way to the locker room. They recorded on their phones, they clapped their hands and likely vaulted obscenities in his direction. This all while one of the greatest players to ever touch the floor exited a high stakes playoff game with an apparent head injury.
In a scene described by Yahoo!’s Chris Mannix, while LeBron hobbled through the tunnel to the locker room, two Celtics fans ran down the stairs to tell him “he sucks.” It honestly doesn’t get any more corny than that. At the time, the fear was James may have suffered a concussion. Forget basketball. This is a man’s health and livelihood at stake.
LeBron eventually returned shortly after. Cavs GM Koby Altman described his injury as a neck strain, but it wasn’t as major as it originally appeared. He exited with about 3:30 left in the second and returned with just under two minutes to go.
But this isn’t about James’ injury exit and return.
This is about basketball fans who consistently cross the line
Russell Westbrook was irate. He had only left the court two times during his Thunder’s elimination game against the Jazz in late April: halftime and after the final buzzer. Yet both times, he had to endure some wild disrespectful chatter from Utah fans. He was fed up.
He issued a heated warning to the fans’ faces before leaving the court, then blasted the Jazz fanbase during his post-game press conference.
This is a recurring theme across the league. Fans shouted racial slurs at Kevin Durant in his return to Oklahoma City as a member of the Warriors. They burned LeBron jerseys when he left Cleveland to go to Miami. And there are countless other player-fan interactions that likely go unreported.
Yes, fans pay their hard-earned money for a seat close to basketball action. But that doesn’t give them the rope to throw all morals and values out the window.
It’s OK to be a passionate basketball fan. It’s OK to love your team with all your heart. It’s OK to boo an opponent in a high-stakes playoff game. And it’s completely OK to feed into storylines.
But basketball players are people, too, and as passionate of a fan as you are, one of the most classless things you can do is boo or cheer an injured player. There is just a line you don’t cross.
See More:
