As is usually the case when LeBron James and Dillon Brooks play against each other, things got a little chippy when the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Houston Rockets on Saturday night.
This time though, it wasn’t Brooks and James at the center of things. The talking started late in the game when Cam Reddish bumped Tari Eason and the two exchanged some words, prompting the former to be given a technical.
While the free throw was going on, James then started talking with Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka. Neither seemed to be particularly angry and didn’t feel the need to raise their voices, although whatever was said was obviously significant as the referee gave them both technicals. It was Udoka’s second, resulting in his ejection from the game.
Here is a good view of the conversation for those looking to lip read to see what was said:
Ime Udoka got ejected after having some words with Bron ? pic.twitter.com/GzNak5ZLzn
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 3, 2023
Courtside view of LeBron vs Udoka last night ?
(Via unitedlife4ever / h/t @overtime )
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) December 3, 2023
Of course both James and Udoka were asked about the altercation after the game and to no surprise, both played it coy and were not willing to reveal what was said.
“Thanksgiving. How much we enjoyed Thanksgiving,” LeBron said when asked what they were talking about.
“We had some conversation, and they didn’t like what they heard, the refs,” Udoka said.
It’s not often that a player and opposing coach get into it, although James and Udoka played against each other and are close to the same age so it’s a little different than most circumstances.
Either way, James and the Lakers got the last laugh as they cruised to victory to improve to 12-9 on the season. James had the highlight of the night with a 360 reverse layup, bringing the crowd to their feet as hew continues to do amazing things in his 21st NBA season.
Ham explains why Hachimura sat out against Rockets
The Lakers are finally starting to get healthy although Rui Hachimura still wasn’t able to play against the Rockets despite being listed as available.
Hachimura had sure to repair a nasal fracture a little over a week ago so Darvin Ham explained that they were just being precautionary in sitting him out and the hope is that he will be good to go on Tuesday against the Phoenix Suns.
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Los Angeles Lakers(96) - Minnesota Timberwolves(103)