LeBron James incurred his first flagrant foul since 2014 for a two-handed shove on Joel Embiid while the latter was about to posterize him.
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Getting put on a poster is the worst insult a basketball player can suffer. LeBron James is no different. He’s often the one dishing them out, but he would have definitely been on one today if he hadn’t acted up.
Joel Embiid received a pass from Danny Green far away from the bucket on the block. But he expertly spun away from Marc Gasol before elevating. LeBron, who was ground-bound at the time, found it fit to extend his arms and shove Embiid in his midsection.
Embiid lay writhing on his back for a while as officials reviewed the call for a flagrant, eventually awarding it.
Skip Bayless and the Internet react to rare LeBron James flagrant
Skip is obviously watching this game intently, and he has a little something to say to James: “Very surprised at such a cheap-shot shove by LeBron on Embiid. Uncharacteristically dangerous.”
Skip is definitely right in this regard, and this was not a basketball play from James. This is indeed his first flagrant foul in over 6 seasons – he got his last one in 2014.
Very surprised at such a cheap-shot shove by LeBron on Embiid. Uncharacteristically dangerous.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) January 28, 2021
The replies on Skip’s thread seem to be agreeing with this too.
@KingJames is a B**** for this foul on @JoelEmbiid!! Hopefully the @sixers return the same!! #lakers #sixers pic.twitter.com/XsHu4OiZbv
— Slim Allen (@JoeyGuliso) January 28, 2021
Definitely cheap. Embiid was about to dunk on him and he just steps to the side and shoved him.
— WORLD SERIES CHAMPS 💙 (@iduran__) January 28, 2021
What you missed Skip was that Gasol also pushed him from the backside which was what caused the hard fall
— Jeremy Izenhower (@Izenhower76) January 28, 2021
Tobias Harris won the Sixers the game with a clutch shot with only 2.4 seconds remaining on the game clock.