LeBron James still has a humorous side, even if it comes at the expense of good friend Draymond Green and the Warriors.
After Green missed a free throw with 38.7 seconds left in the fourth quarter of the Warriors' 120-112 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday, James smiled and flailed his arms around. The gesture was in response to Green’s reaction to an apparent missed call on an eight-second violation just moments earlier.
Draymond misses the free throw, and LeBron starts trolling 😂
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) February 7, 2025
(via @NBAonTNT)pic.twitter.com/mg36uj2PyA
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The trolling elicited a huge reaction from the crowd at Crypto.com Arena, which relished another vintage performance from James against Golden State.
The missed free-throw attempt appeared to aggravate Green even more, and as he argued with referee Robert Hussey, he was given a technical foul.
After a missed eight second violation, Draymond gets riled up, misses a free throw, then LeBron starts laughing and pumps up the crowd.
— KNBR (@KNBR) February 7, 2025
Then Draymond gets called for a tech. pic.twitter.com/ZRqWuYwX9j
While James and Green are friends off the court, the two share a fierce rivalry when playing each other. Thursday night’s game was another contentious back-and-forth affair that saw Golden State claw its way back from a 26-point deficit only to run out of steam in the fourth quarter.
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As usual, James brought his A-game, erupting for 42 points as the Lakers won for the third time against the Warriors this season.
Expect another intense game when the teams face off for the last time in the regular season on April 3 in Los Angeles. Green and the Warriors are hopeful they can exact some revenge against James and the Lakers.