When it comes to basketball, there's always going to be a little trash talk on the court. During Monday's game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Atlanta Hawks, the trash talk went out-of-bounds for LeBron James [1], courtesy of a fan dubbed "Courtside Karen [2]." Out of 30 teams in the NBA, only nine are currently allowing fans [3] in limited-capacity attendance, including the Atlanta Hawks. This makes it even more wild that the incident happened at all, however, it only takes one non-masked fan to ruin the fun and put people at risk. If you're not entirely sure what we're talking about or you've only seen the memes, buckle up. You can catch up on the controversy through the social media posts ahead.
LeBron James Gets Heckled By "Courtside Karen"
During the fourth quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers game against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday, LeBron got into an argument with courtside fans, Chris and Juliana Carlos. In a now-deleted Instagram video [5], Juliana gave her account, saying, "All of the sudden, LeBron says something to my husband, and I see this and I stand up. And I go, 'Don't f*cking talk to my husband.' And he looks at me and he goes, 'Sit the f*ck down, bitch.' And I go, 'Don't f*cking call me a bitch. You sit the f*ck down. Get the f*ck out of here. Don't f*cking talk to my husband like that.'"
Referees were then forced to stop the game as Juliana continued to argue with her mask off. Eventually, security was called and escorted Juliana, her husband, and two other fans out of the game [6].
LeBron James's Reaction to "Courtside Karen's" Ejection
Although LeBron seemed heated during the exchange with "Courtside Karen," the vibe was completely different during the post-game interview. When asked what he thought of the outcome, LeBron stated that he "didn't think they should have been kicked out," but that "the referees did what they had to do." In fact, he even went as far as to say that not only was he happy fans were back in the building, but that "we as players need that interaction."
While LeBron is seemingly not phased with the fact that Juliana removed her mask to yell at him, others on the team (particularly, Frank Vogel and Anthony Davis) spoke on their worries about courtside fans being able to lower their masks and potentially spread COVID-19 to players [7].
Juliana Carlos's Reaction to Her Ejection and Being Dubbed "Courtside Karen"
Juliana previously posted a video [8] on Instagram detailing her account of the incident. In it, she explained, "I'm minding my own business, and Chris has been a Hawks fan forever. He's been watching the games for 10 years. Whatever, he has this issue with LeBron." A day later, she followed up the now-deleted video with another Instagram post, this time apologising for her behaviour.
In addition to ejecting Juliana and company from Monday's game, the Hawks are reviewing social media posted about the incident [9] to see if additional punishment is necessary.
LeBron James's Final Thoughts on the Matter
LeBron had one final thing to say when it came to "Courtside Karen," and Twitter couldn't have been more thrilled. Between Men in Black comparisons from Halsey [10] to commentators comparing "Courtside Karen" to the "salad cat" meme [11], the incident spawned dozens of memes and reactions appropriate of the NBA player.
