LeBron James gets technical foul for trying to sub himself out like it’s hockey

LeBron has put a lot of miles on his legs in his NBA career. You can’t blame the guy for wanting a break from time to time.

Midway through the third quarter, LeBron was reportedly frustrated with the way he and his teammates were playing, and decided to remove himself from the game. Unfortunately, the Cavs weren’t able to get a sub to the scorer’s table in time. With LeBron firmly planted at the end of the bench, Cleveland was playing with just four guys which is apparently illegal. I’ve seen Hoosiers, so I don’t believe this rule, but here is the exact wording per ESPN:

Rule No. 3, Section I, Part A of the NBA rulebook states: “Each team shall consist of five players. No team shall be reduced to less than five players. If a player in the game receives his sixth personal foul and all substitutes have already been disqualified, said player shall remain in the game and shall be charged with a personal and team foul. A technical foul also shall be assessed against his team. All subsequent personal fouls, including offensive fouls, shall be treated similarly. All players who have six or more personal fouls and remain in the game shall be treated similarly.”

LeBron was assessed a technical, but the Cavs would still go on to win. Asked for comment after the game, James had this to say:

”I blew a gasket. You know what that mean? I apologized to my teammates for it.

A much more entertaining comment on the situation, however, came from his head coach.