With several key members of the Los Angeles Lakers sidelined against the Denver Nuggets on Friday, Bronny James was given an opportunity to contribute. The rookie guard played a career-high 16 minutes, opening an opportunity for hecklers to get their jabs in as a result.
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While heading over to the sideline, Bronny was greeted by a raspy-voiced fan shouting what sounded like “Bronny, you aren’t your father!” Considering this is one of the first contests Bronny has received real minutes in, the obnoxious fan was seemingly jumping at the chance to attempt to rattle the 20-year-old.
Instead of being taken aback or simply ignoring the fan, Bronny fired back with a roast of his own. He stared down the heckler before mouthing back “Your chain is fake”. The fan tried to play it off with a laugh, but it’s clear Bronny walked away victorious in this interaction.
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Bronny’s cool demeanor throughout the taunting prompted fans to draw comparisons to his father, LeBron James. “Bro made the same face his dad woulda made,” one fan said regarding Bronny’s calm but humorous reaction.
This is still early in Bronny’s career and he must be getting used to hecklers, but LeBron is no stranger to constant jeering from his haters. The outside noise may have gotten to the 40-year-old earlier in his career, but in recent years, LeBron has liked to take care of annoying fans in hilarious ways.
LeBron James has handled hecklers in several different ways
For a superstar of his stature, LeBron has done an admirable job maintaining focus on the task at hand rather than engaging with obnoxious spectators. However, there have been certain instances where James felt that he had to take action when the heckling became too much to handle.
While he has had officials simply remove fans from games in the past, LeBron also likes to fire back at his haters with some playful banter. Earlier this season, LeBron trash-talked a Kings fan who couldn’t keep his mouth shut. “Man, you’re drunk… Over there, sip your f*cking beer and shut the f*ck up,” James said mid-game.
Another notable mid-game fan encounter came back in 2021 when a female spectator began lashing out at James after she insisted that he had said something to her husband. Eventually, play was stopped, and security had the offender removed, but the funniest part of the interaction was James’ nickname for her – “Courtside Karen”.
The fan later apologized, but not before yelling expletives at James and flipping him off as she was escorted out of the arena. It’s not always easy to deal with hecklers, but Bronny will be well-equipped considering how much his father has dealt with over the years.
