What did LeBron James say to Juliana Carlos and her husband? Courtside drama explained

LeBron James' courtside altercation with Juliana Carlos blew up after the LA Lakers-Hawks game, people sharing the video on social media. Juliana went on to share her side of the story on Instagram, which had people calling her out for threatening the Lakers star. Later, the Atlanta Hawks conducted an investigation on the situation and decided against banning Juliana from future NBA games. 

Also read | NBA investigates HEATED incident between LeBron James and 'Courtside Karen' Juliana Carlos

What did LeBron James say to Juliana Carlos and her husband?

Till now, it is unclear how the courtside altercation between James and the Carloses began. While James hinted at both of them being slightly tipsy, audio shared finally catches some of what James said. In a clip broken down by various news outlets, James is heard referring to Chris Carlos as "Ol' Steroid A**". 

The situation seems to have escalated from that point on. Juliana stood up for her husband soon after, asking the four-time NBA champion to shut up after removing her mandatory face mask. Per reports, her apparent disregard for precautionary measures also got her ejected. 

After the ejection, however, she shared her story on Instagram. "So, I’m minding my own business, and Chris has been a Hawks fan forever," she said, adding that he has been watching games for 10 years, and has "issue with LeBron" – which she does not. However, she adds that James was the one who said something to her husband first, which had her standing up for the man she loves, telling the Lakers icon to not talk with her husband. James, as per Juliana, went on to abuse her next – causing her to revert back. 

While there is not much footage of the initial conversation, the game was halted while Juliana and Chris Carlos were asked to leave. People even found old posts by Chris on his now-private Instagram account, which confirm his 'issue' with James. The posts are dated in 2017 when the four-time NBA champion was still with the Cleveland Cavaliers. "Can you tell I don't like this guy," Carlos wrote in one post, while the other spoke about James almost sitting on his phone and wallet. 

After the game, James spoke about the heckling and admitted that the couple might have had a few drinks. While he said they need not have been ejected, they could have kept going on the whole game. "The game wouldn’t have been about the game no more, so I think the referees did what they had to do".

Also read | LeBron James heckler Juliana Carlos won't be banned from games despite petition from fans

Who is Juliana Carlos' husband?

Chris apparently runs his family business — a distributing company — in Atlanta. Some fans also called out Chris on IG, making comments on his account, which has been made private after the incident. The couple has been seen in previous Hawks games before, often posting about in on Instagram. 

Also read | Juliana Carlos issues long apology after abusive Instagram rant aimed at LeBron James

'Courtside Karen' Instagram apology

In her statement, Juliana Carlos spoke about things escalating quickly on the court, apologising to everyone for losing her cool and removing her mask "in the heat of the moment". She even spoke about her husband Chris being a huge sports fan, and that 'sports wouldn’t be sports without a little trash-talking'. Some social media users spoke that it was natural to lose one's cool at times but labelled Carlos as irresponsible for not following preventive measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“What should have been a quick back-and-forth between two adults got out of hand and my natural instinct to stand up for the man I love kicked in,” she added. In the end, the 25-year-old spoke about getting defensive and offensive language — wishing she could have taken the higher road. "And for these things, I take full responsibility". 

Also read | LeBron James heckler Juliana Carlos removed mask while hurling abuses towards Lakers star

(Image credits: Juliana Carlos Instagram, AP)