LeBron James hurt his shoulder late in the Los Angeles Lakers’ playoff game against the Phoenix Suns on Sunday after he collided with Chris Paul. The play occurred when Paul came sprinting in from behind LeBron to chase a rebound, and Lakers head coach Frank Vogel felt it was reckless.
Paul was trying to box out James after LeBron missed a free throw. Paul clipped LeBron’s legs after LeBron jumped in the air, causing him to land awkwardly. Vogel said he thought it was a “dirty play,” according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
“My view was overly aggressive box out, a dangerous play where ’Bron was in the air and got uppercut,” Vogel told reporters after his team’s 99-90 loss.
Anthony Davis agreed, as he also called the box out a “dangerous play.” Paul dismissed the talk and told Haynes he walked by multiple Lakers players after the game and no one said anything to him. He also refused to respond to Vogel’s assessment of the play.
“I’m just excited to see my son (Chris Paul Jr.), who I haven’t seen in a while,” Paul said. “It’s his (12th) birthday. So I’m just going to enjoy some family time and prepare for the next game.”
You can see a video of the play below:
Let's keep it really real! This is more about the theatrics of Lebron than the foul by Chris Paul.
Oscar worthy #LALvsPHX @Suns @Lakers pic.twitter.com/NA024bhL4r
— Alton Crawf (@AltonCrawf) May 23, 2021
The play led to a scuffle in which one player was ejected. You can see how all of that unfolded here.
It should be noted that LeBron and Paul are close friends. We highly doubt CP3 would ever intentionally try to injure James. When Paul got hurt earlier in the game, LeBron was one of the first people to come to his aid.
