The NBA star hadn’t noticed the child’s reaction during the game, but made sure to show his appreciation after
LeBron James is the king of making sure his fans have great memories.
While the Lakers took on the Miami Heat at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday, Jan. 15, one young fan sitting courtside couldn’t help but be overcome with excitement when she saw the power forward, 40, standing before her.
A focused James didn’t seem to notice the little girl crying hysterically behind him during the game. However, television cameras caught the kid’s reaction, and she soon began going viral before the Lakers secured a 117-108 victory over the Heat.
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“LeBron found her postgame! 🥹,” the NBA captioned an Instagram carousel showing before and after footage.
“Look at [that] young fan there,” a sports commentator says while chuckling in the original clip. “Gets a close-up view of LeBron and kind of has a moment.”
Other posts shared on Twitter showed the basketball star making his way to the girl after the game as she sat with two adults — all three wearing Lakers jerseys. The trio seemed to be in awe as James approached them.
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Once in front of them, James took off his wristband and put it on the child before kneeling down and posing for a picture with her. After they got their photo together, he allowed one of the people she had been sitting with to join in for a group photo before giving that person a wristband as well.
The NBA superstar didn’t stop there.
As other fans began to swarm him, James made sure he didn’t skip past a much younger spectator who walked up during the sweet moment. Before walking away, James took off another wristband and gave it to a little boy who had been watching.
“Loved how he didn’t ignore the last kid,” one person commented on the NBA’s Instagram post.
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After the game was over, James explained to reporters that he learned of the viral moment — which happened in the first quarter — after someone sent him the clip during halftime.
“Thank goodness that I actually looked at my phone at halftime, or I wouldn’t have even seen the reaction,” he said.
According to James, he’d waved to the kid during the beginning of the game, “then I got back to playing.”
It was when he turned around after the wave that the young fan sobbed happily over being acknowledged.
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“To have that type of connection with someone, where they can have that type of reaction, I think that’s what it’s all about, you know? I’ve always tried to be a role model and someone that kids can look up to,” James told reporters.
