CLEVELAND: The paying customers at Quicken Loans Arena have grown accustomed to being entertained by LeBron James.
Pretty much every NBA arena has been a place where James has done something memorable or spectacular. Whether it be a fancy pass to set up a teammate for a score, a slam dunk, a 3-pointer or grabbing a beer from a courtside waitress.
What about that beer?
In fact, James did playfully grab a Great Lakes Brewing Co. beer as his momentum took him from the court into an arena employee during the third quarter Monday night in the Cavs’ second-round playoff series against the Toronto Raptors.
“I was upset at myself because I had an and-one opportunity and I didn’t finish [after being fouled by Serge Ibaka],” James said. “I left it short. And my momentum just took me to the sideline. I’m not going to run over our beer lady. And she had one in her hand, so I took it out of her hand. But I’m not much of a beer guy. If she had some red wine, I probably would’ve definitely taken a sip.”
James finished that comment with a smile and a laugh, just like the fans near the court reacted when the four-time league MVP jokingly grabbed the beer.
J.R. Smith was standing right next to James, and thought the gesture was “hilarious.”
James had many reasons to be happy after the Cavaliers defeated the Raptors 116-105 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series.
Ibaka grabbed James with 2:24 to go in the third to prevent the Akron native from scoring.
James made both free throws as fans chanted, “M-V-P, M-V-P, M-V-P.”
“Our fans do a great job of giving us even more extra energy,” James said. “They are phenomenal for us all the time and tonight was no different. We definitely fed off them, trying to give them things to cheer for, plays to root for.
“The energy was phenomenal. We pushed the tempo, we shared the ball, we got to where we wanted to get on the floor both offensively and defensively. We executed. I mean, a 30-point quarter after an eight-day layoff [following a four-game sweep of the Indiana Pacers in the first round] is a really good quarter, and we held them to 18 as well. That was a great start for us.”
James provided a couple of memorable plays on the court Monday as he made 3-pointers, and tossed down dunks with both his left and right hands. The lefty dunk came when Kyrie Irving bounced the ball off the backboard and a sprinting James caught it and jammed it to give the Cavs a 10-3 lead with 9:12 to go in the first quarter.
“The guy is special,” Irving said of James. “It’s crazy what he can do in the air. I just distinctively remember him pointing up behind me and I could’ve easily laid it up, but to throw it off the backboard like that in a playoff game, in a high intense game and having the trust between us two and him finishing an amazing play like that is just another play in the book for me and ’Bron on an alley-oop.”
James totaled 35 points, 10 rebounds and four assists on Monday, and his beer grab also made the TV highlight packages locally and nationally on TNT and ESPN.
“It’s just in the moment,” James said. “I don’t plan for things like that.”
James proceeded to reflect on playing in a game in Oklahoma City several years ago when a play took him out of bounds and toward a child with french fries.
“I took one of his french fries,” James said with a laugh. “I didn’t come into the game saying, ‘I’m going to find a kid with some french fries and I’m gonna take it.’ It just happens. It’s kind of spur of the moment. I remember last year in Atlanta and I was going toward the sideline away from their basket and there was a pregnant lady sitting right there and I was like, ‘Whoa. We need you and that baby to be healthy. Let me slow down.’
“It just happens. I don’t do it to get a reaction. It just kind of happens. Everybody is part of the game. You guys [the media] are part of the game, the fans are part of the game, people from our concession stand are part of the game.”
Cavs coach Tyronn Lue didn’t see the funny moment, but “heard the crowd go crazy.”
James Jones also didn’t see the incident, but said he wasn’t surprised.
“He loves his job,” Jones said of James.
“I think you see that when he is on the floor. It is part of his personality. He is not a robot. He has a broad personality, and in instances like that he understands that the fans watching enjoy him expressing himself. That’s just LeBron being LeBron.”
Michael Beaven can be reached at 330-996-3829 or mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com.