LeBron James Quote Was Made Up

5th February 2021

James' interaction with a heckler led to several false claims (Getty Images).

The Claim

Regarding his verbal altercation with a heckler, LeBron James said: “I love the fans, but I don’t take that kind of talk from anybody. There is a line that should never be crossed. She came at me with blatant disrespect, so I told them to sit their a-- down. I thought I was talking to a father and daughter, until she starting calling him husband. I was stunned.”

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Emerging story

After LeBron James’ verbal altercation with two hecklers during the Lakers’ game in Atlanta against the Hawks, a quote began to spread on social media in which LeBron appears to take a few shots at the two fans who were eventually ejected from the game.

According to ESPN, the pair of hecklers were Juliana Carlos and her husband, Chris Carlos. Juliana is 25 years old, while Chris is in his 60s.

The quote made its way onto the Skip and Shannon: UNDISPUTED Show, when at the 8:20 mark, Skip Bayless referenced the quote, saying “I think at some point LeBron took another shot at her and said ‘I thought it was his daughter.'"

The video of Skip & Shannon on YouTube that referenced this quote has nearly half a million views. Other users shared it on Twitter, where the quote was retweeted thousands of times.

Misbar’s Analysis

Misbar’s investigation found this claim to be fake. Every reference to this quote lacks a source.

LeBron did speak with reporters after the game in Atlanta and is quoted as saying “At the end of the day, I’m happy fans are back in the building. I missed that interaction, I need that interaction, we as players need that interaction. I don’t feel like it was warranted to be kicked out. 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. I didn’t think they should’ve been kicked out, but they might’ve had a couple of drinks, maybe, and they could’ve probably kept it going and the game wouldn’t have been about the game anymore, so the referees did what they had to do.”

It seems the only real shot LeBron took at Juliana Carlos after the verbal altercation and ejection was by taking to Twitter and calling her “Courtside Karen,” a nickname that has already stuck with #CourtsideKaren trending on Twitter.