An injured LeBron James was in attendance at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday night to witness the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Milwaukee Bucks. While D’Angelo Russell was bossing the Bucks defense, James caught up with Lakers owner and president Jeanie Buss and Linda Rambis.
Russell’s 40 points got swept under the rug because social media focused more on James’ acquaintance in the front row. A clip surfaced showing that he was busy chatting away with Buss and Rambis. Who, at first glance, appeared to be flirtatious toward the 39-year-old.
Among the social media butterflies who love to stir up trouble is Antonio Brown. The former NFL wide receiver, continuing his hot streak of #CTESPN, shared a morphed picture of James shortly after the video clip went viral.
He got game 2 #CTESPN.
The tweet was captioned as:
The funny part is that it was not even the former Pittsburgh Steelers player’s original intent. Initially, the post was meant for someone else.
Brown took the post to another X (formerly Twitter) and shared it through his profile. One of his subscribers mentioned the alleged plagiarism by the 35-year-old.
What was LeBron James talking about with Buss and Rambis?
James is many things, but there’s doubt about whether he would openly flirt with two women on live TV. As it turns out, he wasn’t. Rather, the Lakers legend was thanking the pair for being great role models.
LeBron James at the college basketball game between the Arizona State Sun Devils and the USC Trojans at Galen Center in Los Angeles (Image via IMAGO)Why? Because the Lakers vs. Bucks game coincided with International Women’s Day. So James decided to show his gratitude. An intuitive ‘lip-reader’ on X solved what they were conversing on.
Happy International Women’s Day.
LeBron James said
Thank you.
Buss and Rambis replied
Now people are more focused on their body language than on the subject of their behavior. So when Buss and Rambis appeared to be a little too friendly with James, most just perceived them as flirting. The reality is often disappointing, isn’t it?
Y’all are two of the most powerful women in sports… Y’all deserve it.
James continued his praise
FULL Conversation Between LeBron James, Jeanie Buss & Linda Rambis👀:
LeBron: “Happy International Women’s Day”
Buss & Rambis: “Thank you”
Then, Bron said: “Y’all are two of the most powerful women in sports… Y’all deserve it.” pic.twitter.com/0uiM2NwieW
— LegendZ (@legendz_nba) March 9, 2024
A big opportunity was lost for possibly James’ biggest critique, Skip Bayless. The FOX Sports analyst, before the start of the game, predicted that the Lakers would find it hard to beat the Bucks because their star player was missing.
CAN THE LAKERS AVOID EMBARRASSMENT AT HOME TONIGHT AGAINST THE BUCKS???
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) March 8, 2024
He was left eating his words when Russell finished the game with 44 points on 17-25, 9-12 from 3.
WHAT A GAME WITHOUT LEBRON BY D’ANGELO RUSSELL: 44 POINTS ON 17-25 WITH 9-12 FROM 3!!! TWO HUGE LATE RUNNERS INCLUDING THE GAME-WINNER. AS I ALWAYS SAY ON UNDISPUTED, DLO HAS ALL-STAR OFFENSIVE TALENT.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) March 9, 2024
On the other hand, Brown’s recent activities indicate that he isn’t in the mood to stop the online barrage. He didn’t even spare Gisele Bundchen and Taylor Swift.
