A couple of days ago, JJ Redick went to comedian Andrew Schulz’s podcast Flagrant and discussed LeBron James’ recent controversial courtside interaction with Lakers majority owner Jeanie Buss. During the discussion with Redick, Schulz was unable to understand why James received backlash for “being friendly” with his franchise’s owner.
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Agreeing with the comedian, the former NBA sharpshooter stated, “That’s a shame”. Schulz then opined that this backlash was a result of “sexism”. Even though the 40-year-old had said it half-jokingly, Schulz’s reasoning sat well with Redick, who thought that Schulz and Co were on to something. The former NBA star and LeBron’s James podcast partner half-jokingly lauded the Flagrant crew for challenging the disparaging standards for men and women regarding incidents like these.
“You know what I realized just coming on the show. You guys are here for the right reasons. You’re just here to break down fu**ed up institutional barriers,” Redick told Schulz, as the entire crew burst into laughter.
This discussion about LeBron James was triggered when Schulz brought up Luka Doncic’s playful interaction with a female referee that went viral a while ago. During the 2020-21 season, Doncic garnered attention for his exchange with a female ref during a dominant win versus the Clippers. After a foul call on teammate Willie Cauley-Stein in the game, Doncic approached ref Ashley Moyer-Gleich as Clippers’ Paul George was shooting free throws.
Then he began the playful wordplay. The Slovenian stated, “There’s a foul”, to which Moyer-Gleich replied, “What foul?” Then Doncic supposedly said, “I am fouling in love with you.” Schulz thought that Doncic “rizzed her up” with his Balkan charm as the ref was seen smiling after the exchange. The video of Doncic “flirting” with the referee somehow translated into the exchange about Jeanie Buss resting her shoulder on the NBA’s All-Time Leading Scorer.
LeBron’s viral interaction with Buss and another lady drew widespread attention. Fans were wondering about the body language of both the Lakers personalities. Many reactions weren’t as kind as Schulz’s interpretation.
The Internet was wondering about the intimacy of the exchange
It wasn’t just Jeanie Buss who was touching King James when he sat out the Bucks game on March 8. Linda Rambis, who is the executive director of Special Projects for the Los Angeles Lakers, was also close to the Lakers superstar. Both well-accomplished women repeatedly seemed to touched James as Buss even rested her head on his shoulder. In a video of the incident shared by the X account My Mixtapez, a lot of reactions poured in.
One of the commenters thought that these actions may have not gone down well with Savannah James. The X user wrote, “I know his wife feel some type of way”
Another X user opined that these actions may land the hooper in trouble with his wife regardless of his stature. The user commented, “He in trouble this morning… I don’t care who he is”.
Meanwhile, for a Lakers fan, this was just a “marketing” maneuver. The fan wrote, “Lebron James Jeanie Buss. Great Marketing”
Considering the wave of NSFW comments, a user thought that the reactions have gotten out of control. The X handle jokingly wrote, “These comments are outta pocket lmao”
Social media directions can often make a mountain of a molehill, therefore, even the most innocuous actions get magnified. The exchange between Buss and James indicates their closeness as friends. It also sent a message that the organization may have a long-term partnership in mind with James.
