LeBron James earned his first-ever ejection late in the third quarter of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Tuesday night matchup with the Miami Heat. And to answer your question: Yes, he appeared just as surprised as you seem right now.
The ejection itself was inconsequential. The Cavaliers were up by 23 points at the time and had little trouble holding on for the victory. Their winning streak lives on, so everyone will move on.
Except Enes Kanter.
The New York Knicks’ center wasted almost no time before taking to Twitter with a pot shot aimed at the four-time MVP:
King of Cleveland ? #HisFavoritePlayGround#StriveForGreatness pic.twitter.com/U6a3FwCc09
— Enes Kanter (@Enes_Kanter) November 29, 2017
Nicely done, Enes. Though, if I may: A space between hashtags goes a long way.
Anyway, this tweet is now an extension of perhaps the NBA’s most unpredictable beef. LeBron and Kanter got into a little skirmish earlier this month during the Cavaliers’ victory at Madison Square Garden. James’ comments on Dennis Smith Jr., and how the Knicks’ shouldn’t have passed on him in the draft, precipitated the incident. New York’s players interpreted his sentiments as him throwing shade at rookie Frank Ntilikina, who has quickly endeared himself to the organization and its fans with his defensive effort.
So when James and Ntilikina ended up almost nose-to-nose early on, Kanter of course took it upon himself to get involved. He and James exchanged, um, pleasantries and then some more verbal jabs during postgame interviews. And then, when LeBron posted a photo on Instagram of himself on the MSG floor declaring himself the King of New York, Kanter quickly offered a rebuke.
And, well, here we are, digesting the latest chapter in this flat-out hysterical saga. I would say we’ll need to wait until April 9th, when the Knicks and Cavs meet again, for the next chapter, but I, along with all of you, know better by now.
