"The PED abuse is crazy" - NBA fans react to LeBron James caught popping pill courtside during Lakers game

Four-time NBA champion LeBron James has been dealing with a foot injury over the past few weeks. After missing games due to the injury and taking a short leave of absence from the team for personal reasons, James returned to the court on Sunday, logging 34 minutes against Memphis. Then, on Thursday, James logged another 34 minutes in the Lakers' 113-100 win over Sacramento.

After the game, footage of LeBron James allegedly popping a pill on the sideline began to circulate on X, formerly known as Twitter. One fan posted a video calling James out for allegedly dry-swallowing a pill on the sideline.

"Look at that. Look at your boy. He takes the pill. Those are pills, bro. Those are pills. You popping pills, dude, look at him. If that's a mint, you just hand him a mint. What's the problem? ... That much secret for a breath mint? That's a booster."

NBA fans were quick to weigh in on the clip in the replies:

"The PED abuse is crazy."

"Could be muscle relaxers," another suggested.

"Le Pill Popper," one X user joked.

Others kept the jokes coming:

"We know it, them legs are 40 in the nba, that's like 60 in our life. He will crash hard sooner or later because your body is not designed to take that kind of mileage at that level with performance enhanced drugs," one fan suggested.

"Bruh I know he's on PEDs but a Tylenol is definitely need at 39 years old, shit I need 4 getn out the bed lol," another fan added.

"It starts with communication" - LeBron James discusses the Lakers' defense

Since going through a rough stretch that saw the team go 2-8 over a ten-game stretch from Nov. 19 to Dec. 6, the Lakers have returned to form defensively. As Jovan Buha of The Athletic wrote, over the past four games, LA has been the best team in the NBA.

The past two of those games have been with James back on the team's roster after missing a game against Portland on Dec. 8 and a game against Minnesota on Dec. 13.

During his absence, the team went 1-1, beating the Blazers while falling to the Timberwolves. Despite that, LA has continued to showcase some impressive defense, holding teams to just 98.5 points per 100 possessions.

After the Lakers' 113-100 win over Sacramento on Thursday, James spoke about the team's defensive mentality with media members:

“Defensively, I think the No. 1 thing is about all being accountable and holding your guy. Understanding that (we can’t) just let blow-bys happen or whatever the case may be, but also being on a string with the other four guys on the floor."

"And it starts with communication. And I think we’ve been communicating at a high over the last four games. And we’re gonna need to continue that,” James added.

The team will have a chance to keep the momentum rolling tomorrow night when they play the Kings in a highly-anticipated rematch at the Golden 1 Center.