‘Courtside Karen’: LeBron James Bestows Derisive Racial Nickname on Fan After Courtside Exchange

LeBron James
Getty Images/Kevin C. Co

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James used a racial slur to respond to a female fan after a confrontation in the stands Monday night as the Lakers battled the Atlanta Hawks.

“Courtside Karen was MAD MAD!!” LeBron tweeted Monday evening after the game. According to reports, security escorted two women and two men off the court after the alleged incident.

Part of the incident seemed to be caught on camera, and the announcers commented on the situation in the stands as the game was stalled:

Juliana Carlos, the woman allegedly at the center of the “Karen” slur, responded as she was allegedly being removed from the stadium on a video. “Just got kicked out of the game for talking sh*t to LeBron James for talking sh*t to my f*cking husband,” Carlos said. “This is such f*cking bullsh*t.”

LeBron gave his own side of the confrontation. “I don’t feel like it was warranted to be kicked out,” he said on a video. “There was a back-and-forth between two grown men. We said our piece, he said his piece, I said my piece, and then someone else jumped into it and said their piece, but I don’t think they should’ve been kicked out”:

James, who sees himself as a social justice warrior, has claimed to support anti-racism despite embracing militant anti-police movements such as Black Lives Matter. James has also been especially critical of America and former President Trump. The NBA star is also no stranger to throwing around racially incendiary remarks, in January James said there are “2 Amerikkkas,” when describing the police reaction to the majority white demonstrators who stormed the Capitol on January 6th.

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