LeBron James went off after an announcer criticized him for only wearing socks while celebrating on the sidelines of his latest game with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Clap back season is here for LeBron James, 36, who wasn’t having someone talk badly about his lack of footwear. The Ohio native was criticized for coming onto the court in just his socks during the Lakers’ blowout game against the Utah Jazz on Dec. 5. LeBron had already exited the game at this point and gave his shoes to some kids in the stands when he came off the bench to cheer on his teammate Kyle Kuzma, 24, who blocked two shots against his opponent with 2:35 remaining. His excitement amped up on the second block, with him hopping up and down on the baseline while waving a towel, something the Jazz announcers did not approve of. “That’s some disrespect right there,” they said during the live telecast.
LeBron shared the clip on his Instagram on Dec. 6 and defended his decision to go shoeless in a lengthy Instagram post. “Imagine doing your job at the highest level to where you’re not needed anymore, giving your shoes to a lil girl and boy who you inspire and hoped you made proud that night, then cheering on your teammates cause you love seeing them succeed more than yourself only to be criticized while doing it,” he wrote. “People it’s the world we live in and you can’t let it ever stop you from your purpose in life.”
The 4-time NBA Most Valuable Player continued, “Negativity, bad energy, hate, envy, etc etc will try to bring you down throughout your journey and it’s up to you on how you handle it. I handle it by simply saying ‘Thank You’ with a 😁 on my face and continue to push forward while doing it! LIVE.LAUGH.LOVE.”
LeBron received a ton of support in the comments section of his post, with one writing “Haha these clowns are jus pissed cuz their s**t team hasn’t won a championship since…..I don’t even know hahaha get’ em King!”
The father-of-three has also showed off his comedic side lately onto of his emotional one. He let out, wait for it, a big fart after a fan asked him for an autograph in an Oklahoma City parking lot on Nov. 21.