“Draymond Green so proud rn”: NBA fans react as LeBron James receives ‘Flagrant 1’ for elbowing Deni Avdija in the face

It was a rare sight on Wednesday night as LA Lakers superstar LeBron James was on the giving end of a flagrant foul committed against Washington Wizards' Deni Avdija. In the second quarter, James was driving into the paint and struck Avdija in the jaw with his elbow while spinning.

The Lakers were ahead 60-53 late in the second quarter when the elbow incident occurred. After reviewing the play, officials gave LeBron James a Flagrant 1 foul for hitting Avdija's jaw.

Fans were quick to pile on “The King” for the incident, even though he isn’t notorious for dirty or risky plays. One fan joked that his friend Draymond Green, who is also represented by Klutch Sports, would be proud of him.

“Draymond Green so proud rn,” X user @doctahotdog said.

X user @Tomascove0 said that if Green was the one who committed the foul, he would have been ejected from the game.

"LeDirty,” wrote @gio_gonzalez3.

“He deserves the 2nd flagrant,” wrote @AzDulazD7.

Here are some other fan reactions to the play on X, formerly Twitter:

Avdija remained in the game and made two free throws. However, he was later ruled out due to a migraine. He finished with seven points, two rebounds, two assists and one steal in his 22 minutes of play.

Some fans speculated that Avdija's migraine might have been a concussion resulting from the elbow incident:

“You spelled concussion wrong,” @ShrekDonkey29 said, reacting to the announcement that Avdija had suffered a migraine.

The Lakers won the game, 125-120 in the end to improve to 44-33. LeBron James finished with 25 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and three steals, while Anthony Davis had 35 points, 18 rebounds and three blocks.

Rui Hachimura, a former Wizard, had 19 points, while D'Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves had 18 and 16, respectively.

Looking at LeBron James’ history of flagrant fouls

LeBron James, with a career spanning 21 seasons, has not been known for dirty plays despite his long tenure in the NBA. The recent flagrant foul on Avdija was only the ninth in his career and the first of the current season.

Throughout his career, he has never committed more than two flagrant fouls in a single season. His first flagrant foul came in his fourth year in the league, where he accumulated two such fouls. The only other season where he had two flagrant fouls was in 2021-22.

Over the years, he has amassed a total of 73 technical fouls, with his highest single-season count being 10 in 2008-09.

He has only been ejected twice in his career, once in the 2017-18 season and once in the 2021-22 season.