Lakers' LeBron James shares humble moment with arena staff
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LeBron James has faced the Portland Trail Blazers countless times in his 22-year NBA career, but one meeting sticks out above the rest. During one of his first trips to the Moda Center as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, James accidentally knocked over an arena employee before hugging her in apology. The moment went viral, leading to him re-embracing her six years later.
Before the Lakers-Blazers game on Feb. 20, James recognized the woman tending to court-side fans. He ran over to her during team warm-ups and gave her another big hug before sharing a laugh.
LeBron hugged the Portland arena staffer he knocked over in 2019 pic.twitter.com/3vOXrGneQh
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 21, 2025
James has been back to the Moda Center numerous times since the original incident but reacted as if it was his first time seeing the employee since knocking her down. The woman appeared visibly surprised but simultaneously grateful for the gesture.
James went on to lead the Lakers to a 110-102 win over the Blazers, bumping Los Angeles up to 33-21. He led the team with 40 points on 14-for-24 from the field, including 4-for-8 from deep. He added eight rebounds and four assists to compose yet another gaudy stat line.
With Luka Doncic out due to injury, Austin Reaves, who was in awe of his veteran teammate’s performance, added 32 points and seven assists. Only seven Lakers scored in the game, with 65 percent of the team’s total points coming from James and Reaves.
LeBron James leads Lakers to rebound from Hornets loss
The victory was an ideal bounce-back for the Lakers on the second night of a back-to-back. Los Angeles came out of the All-Star break with a whimper, suffering an upset loss to the 100-97 Charlotte Hornets on Feb. 19.
Doncic, who struggled in the game against the Hornets, sat out of the second leg against Portland for injury management. In his absence, the Lakers resumed the strong form they took heading into the All-Star break. They picked up their seventh win in their past nine games while snapping a two-game skid.
After the win, head coach JJ Redick stressed the importance of playing hard “every night,” calling that a “cheat code.” James agreed with the sentiment. Despite a history of load management, James has missed just four games in his age 40 season while continuing to defy the logic of time.
The Lakers, who currently sit in fifth in the Western Conference, travel to Denver to face the Nuggets on Feb. 22. The nationally televised game will be the second meeting between the teams of the year. The Nuggets took the initial matchup 127-102 at Crypto.com Arena.
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