If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, LeBron James had to be feeling pretty flattered during Friday game.
NBA referee Sha’Rae Mitchell went viral for her funny impression of the Los Angeles Lakers star James during the Lakers’ win over the rival LA Clippers. In the first quarter of the contest, Mitchell, who was working the game, got inadvertently hit by a pass from Lakers big man Jarred Vanderbilt that was deflected out of bounds by Clippers forward Nicolas Batum.
Mitchell recovered from the stray ball pretty quickly and promptly launched into James’ famous shoulder shrug move. Here is the video.
James is known for doing the shoulder shrug, usually after getting fouled and/or scoring baskets through contact. Even if Mitchell is only in her first official season as an NBA referee (after reffing in previous NBA seasons as a non-staff official), she is clearly familiar with James’ game.
The four-time NBA champion James, playing on the second night of a back-to-back, finished with 28 points, 13 rebounds, and three assists in Friday night’s game. That was good enough for the Lakers to defeat the Clippers by a 106-102 final score, improving to 37-21 on the year (No. 4 in the Western Conference).
Now 40 years old and in his 22nd season in the NBA, James’ mannerisms and other various behaviors have become very well-known at this point. At least Mitchell’s impersonation of him was far more flattering than the one that a rival player did of James several years ago.
