The Los Angeles Lakers are spiraling out of control. On Sunday night, they were demolished at home in a 28-point loss to the 25-36 New Orleans Pelicans, who now sit just 2.5 games behind the Lakers, at 27-33.
It was nothing short of an embarrassment, with team president Jeanie Buss leaving midway through the third quarter, as the Lakers trailed by 25 points.
To add insult to injury, there was a sideline incident with fans. In the above video, LeBron James, Trevor Ariza and Russell Westbrook are all seen responding to criticism from fans,
James, who was booed during the game (below), responded by asking who the fan was criticizing him, then asked for them to prove their basketball knowledge before telling them to shut up.
“Who said that? Tell me one thing you know about basketball besides the ball going into the basket,” James said. “Shut your ass up.”
Ariza appeared even more aggrieved from the bench, saying, “I don’t give a fuck what you are. You a bitch.”
Westbrook told a fan to “go home.”
Per NBA.com’s Mark Medina, a fan was escorted out by security guard after yelling towards the bench.
In one week’s time, the Warriors will play the Lakers in Los Angeles for their penultimate meeting of the season. They’ll meet again in the last week of the season in San Francisco.