LeBron James has been thrilling fans lately.
Less than a week after claiming the NBA scoring title, the Los Angeles Lakers star made a fan’s day when he sat next to her courtside during Saturday’s game against the Golden State Warriors.
James was inactive for the game with a minor foot injury. Wearing street clothes and a bright green beanie, he casually strolled down the sideline and sat in the open seat at the end of the Lakers bench. A 12-year-old girl who was wearing a Warriors scarf was seated to his left with her brother and was trying to watch the game around him. When he sat down, she looked up and her eyes grew wide with the revelation of who he was. Her mouth dropped open and she covered her face in bewilderment.
The NBA’s Twitter post with the clip of her reaction has 1.1 million views within an hour and a half of its publish time.
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ESPN’s Lisa Salters interviewed the fan and learned that she had asked to go to the game three months ago in hopes of seeing James pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the NBA all-time scorers list. Even though he already broke the record, she was still excited to have the chance at congratulating the 19-time All-Star.
‘When I heard that he had a foot injury, I was sad. We didn’t know if he was traveling with the team to this game or not,’ she said. ‘Then when he ended up sitting down here, I’m not as tall as him, obviously, so I could only see his shoes. Then I look up and I see LeBron James and what’s going through my mind is, ‘Oh my God, the greatest player of all time in basketball is sitting next to me!’ I just freak out completely, I’m just thinking, ‘Oh my goodness this is like the best moment of my life.”
The fan said she was instructed to not distract the players, which she said she was complying with even as friends were texting her to get an autograph. The fact she couldn’t say anything to James didn’t seem to bother her.
‘This is incredible,’ she said. ‘It’s such an amazing moment.’
The fan and James got to interact postgame, with the Lakers posting a photo of the two together.
