LeBron James in bizarre altercation with female spectator

Two spectators at the NBA matchup between the Atlanta Hawks and LA Lakers were kicked out of the stadium after getting into a slanging match with superstar LeBron James.

Referees brought the game at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena to a halt during the fourth quarter after two women who were sitting courtside disrupted the game.

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The Atlanta Hawks are one of only a handful of NBA teams to allow a limited number of spectators to attend NBA games.

The pair were seated courtside, and could be seen not properly wearing masks as required.

Footage of the tense exchange went viral on Twitter, however it wasn’t until after the game that one of the women involved took to social media to explain their side of the story.

The woman, posting under the name ‘julianaacarlos’ on Instagram, said the group were kicked out after ‘talking s**t’ to James, who she claimed had stared down her husband.

“LeBron James looked at my husband during the game and cussed him out,” she said.

“And I stood up and I go ‘don’t f***ing talk to my husband, talk to my husband one more time and I will f*** you up.

“And he started barking and he goes ‘shut your mouth dumb b***h’ and I go ‘you shut your f***ing mouth b***h’.”

LeBron James responds to bizarre fan incident

When asked about the incident after the game, James said he didn’t believe the fans should have been kicked out of the game, but later added he thought the group might have been drinking and said the referees ‘did what they had to do’.

“I don’t feel like it was warranted to be kicked out,” he said.

“There was a back and forth between two grown men, he said his piece, I said my piece, then someone else jumped into it and said their piece.

“I don’t think they should have been kicked out...but they might have had a couple of drinks maybe, and they could have probably kept it going during the game and it wouldn’t have been about the game no more.

“I think the referees did what they had to do.”

Despite the mid-game interruption, James and the Lakers withstood a determined comeback from the Hawks to claim a 107-99 victory.

The win improved their record to a league-best 16-6 on the season, led by James’ 21 points, seven rebounds and nine assists.

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