A month ago, LeBron James had openly criticized the play-in tournament and questioned the reason behind its existence. Many other players condemned it too because that gave an opportunity to a 33-win team to knockout a 38-win team, so to speak. 

However, the same product backed by Adam Silver gave fans one of the most iconic matches in Lakers vs Warriors. That match felt more like a conference final game with teams cutting huge deficits, playing all their stars for extended minutes, fighting for every possession, and if need be, ‘acting’ a little. 

Chicago Bulls player backed  LeBron James for his act

With two minutes on the game clock, the Warriors were leading their play-in game against the Lakers and were eyeing an upset. That’s when a pass from Alex Caruso and a dunk attempt from LeBron James hit the headlines.

Just as a flying Draymond Green jumped to block that shot from Bron, he accidentally hit The Akron Hammer’s face and forced him off balance. A moment later, LeBron was lying on the floor, rubbing his eyes as it appeared that Draymond had poked in his eyes with his right hand.

Trending

Shaq Makes Big Claim That Can End LeBron James’ Future With Lakers After Nuggets Series

April 17, 2024 06:48 PM EDT

Why Is Gabbie Marshall Not Invited to the 2024 WNBA Draft Despite Graduating From Iowa?

April 13, 2024 06:21 PM EDT

Is Dawn Staley Married? Details on South Carolina Coach’s Love Life and Special Bond With Lisa Boyer

March 16, 2024 06:41 PM EDT

Nate Robinson’s Tragic Situation Receives Genuine Moment of Empathy from Stephen A. Smith

April 14, 2024 10:18 PM EDT

Dwyane Wade’s Wife Gabrielle Shows Love to “Best Movie Brother” Martin Lawrence on the Latter’s Big Day

April 18, 2024 12:30 PM EDT

Get instantly notified of the hottest NBA stories via Google! Click on Follow Us and Tap the Blue Star.

Follow Us

Even the commentators were debating whether it qualified for a flagrant, but Bron’s extended time lying under the rim certainly raised doubts.

Later, as most fans tagged it as acting, a flurry of reactions came in support and against Bron.

In a recent interview, Chicago Bulls veteran Thaddeus Young gave his opinion on the incident. The 32-YO expressed, “I don’t know. I try to not get into the antiques of the game… Sometimes it can be real, sometimes it can be just antiques to get the call or to give guys flagrant and stuff like that. The Draymond Green incident with LeBron could’ve been a hype little bit because it was obviously LeBron and Draymond Green.” 

‘Actor of the Year’ Blazers’: CJ McCollum & NBA Twitter Troll LeBron James After Draymond Green’s Foul

The rivalry between the L-Train and Warriors’ Draymond Green

This is not new when it comes to the two stars. It all began during the 2016 NBA Finals when The Dancing Bear had successfully tamed Bron with his extraordinary blocking skills.

That year, Draymond had averaged his play-off high, 1.8 blocks per game. Later, in the 2018 NBA Finals too, Dray was all over LeBron, and that had helped the Warriors beat the Cavs 4-0. 

The Warrior leads the meeting between the two with an impressive record of 23-15 (15-6 in playoffs). So, it was obvious that Bron tried his best to force a flagrant on Dray in their recent meeting. 

Just as Thaddeus added, “When you look at how tough a competitor Draymond is, and what he is… as far as getting technical fouls and giving hard fouls and just being a bruise in the paint. Like, if I was LeBron, I’m going to sell it too. I wanna take him out of the game, like Draymond is an impactful player the same as LeBron. So I probably would’ve tried to sell it too. I don’t know if he actually poked in the eye or anything like that.”