Any parent would take immense pride in their child’s achievement. All the more if the kid, whom she brought up as a single mother, became LeBron James, the King. However, parents also tend to get involved a bit more than is necessary, and that too at inopportune moments. And that is precisely what happened when Gloria James let her emotions take over during a Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Boston Celtics game in 2008.
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James was on a fast break when Paul Pierce grabbed him, leading to both of them scuffling on the sidelines. Gloria, who happened to be at shouting distance, didn’t like what Pierce did to her boy and took matters into her own hands.
Even as chaos ensued between fans and the players over the foul, Gloria made her feelings known to Pierce and the 6’11” Kevin Garnett, and then some. As it happens, LeBron didn’t take kindly to his mom stepping in. And angrily, he shouted, “Sit yo a** down.”
While Gloria did oblige, Pierce has now revealed that LeBron’s mother was about to smack him that day. “Come on, mama. You know we love you. I am just trying not to let him make the layup, mama,” a laughing Pierce said on Club Shay Shay.
“I wasn’t trying to hurt him. I ain’t never tried to hurt him,” he added, noting that if he were the same age as James, the 4x NBA champion wouldn’t have won as many championships.
LeBron did admit his mistake and apologized immediately. “I told her to sit down with some language I shouldn’t have used,” James had said. “Thank God today wasn’t Mother’s Day; it was yesterday.”
The then Cavalier star had also asserted that even though Gloria is his mom, she shouldn’t be treated any differently than the fans.
“Even though that’s my mother, the commissioner doesn’t care if it’s your mother or your kids or anybody, you can’t allow fans and players to get involved like that,” James said at the time. “And I can’t afford for my mom not to be at every last one of my games.”
Thankfully, that incident never affected Gloria and LeBron’s relationship. The two have shared a deep bond, evident in LeBron’s admission now and then that he wouldn’t have made it as an NBA player if it weren’t for the decisions his mother made for him growing up.
