The Los Angeles Lakers outmuscled the Houston Rockets in a double-digit loss over the weekend. But Rockets coach Ime Udoka actually stole the show after he got into a verbal spat with the Lakers’ Lebron James.
Udoka got the coaching job after his infamous ousting from the Boston Celtics in late 2022, one season removed from coaching the team to the NBA Finals. He was suspended in September 2022, after being outed for having an affair with a Celtics staffer while in a long-term relationship with actress Nia Long.
After not coaching for an entire season, Udoka landed a job with the upstart Rockets, and he has turned them into a formidable group of young stars with play-in tournament aspirations.
On Dec. 2, in the second quarter of the Western Conference matchup, James felt like Rockets player Alpern Sengun traveled before passing the ball off to Tari Eason, who was fouled by Laker Cam Reddish while shooting.
This led to a little skirmish between the teams, as Reddish received a technical for bumping into Eason while he was getting ready to shoot his free throw. While both teams tried to calm down and the Rockets were getting ready to shoot their technical free throws, James began to walk over to Udoka, and the two began talking to each other.
Audio from the cameras could not pick up the conversation, but a referee within earshot heard something that he felt was out of line, so he gave James a technical foul, and he threw Udoka out of the game.
After the game, neither side expounded on what was said but Udoka said that the refs didn’t like what they heard. Meanwhile, James joked that the conversation was about “how much we enjoyed Thanksgiving” during a press interview backstage.
While it’s unclear what started the argument, one social media user seemingly gave a breakdown of what occurred, using audio from fans’ phones and lip reading.
Allegedly, after James voiced his displeasure on the Sengun no call, Udoka said, “Stop crying like b—hes man.” James can be heard saying, “We’re all grown men. Nah that ‘b—h’ ain’t cool. Don’t use it so loosely.”
According to video, Udoka said that James wasn’t going to do anything about it and called him a “soft a-s boy.” This is when the ref stepped in to diffuse the argument by ejecting Udoka.
After seeing that interpretation of the conversation, some fans were confused by how harsh the punishment was. Two said, “Why did LeBron get a tech,” and, “They both stood their ground, kind of soft for the ref to give out a tech on this.”
Others made jokes about Udoka and his personal past saying, “Talking tough ain’t gonna make us forget you f–ked a mediocre white woman and lost Nia Long.”
Udoka and Long met in 2010 when he played for the Sacramento Kings. They welcomed their only son, Kez Sunday, in 2011 and got engaged in 2015. Months after his suspension, Long confirmed their breakup in December 2022.
Talking tough ain’t gonna make us forget you fucked a mediocre white woman and lost Nia Long https://t.co/FBVwGTDjZ7
— 🆘🗯️ (@twnkiehuntr) December 3, 2023
But this isn’t the first time the word “b—h” has set off James due to his history of responding negatively to the word.
As one-third of “The Big Three” in Miami, James went off on his teammate Mario Chalmers during a 2013 game against the Indiana Pacers. During a March 17 appearance on the “In Shambles Podcast,” Chalmers was asked about the incident, and he said he told James to, “Stop playing like a b—h,” which is what set off the altercation.
“King James” has had the word used against him other times as well by opponents like Draymond Green and Joakim Hoah, as well as opposing fans. In response, James has said that he is the father of three kids and a man.
