As a four-time NBA MVP and the league's best player, LeBron James is used to being fouled mercilessly by opponents.
Rarely, however, does James react as passionately as he did Friday when he was hacked by Mirza Teletovic of the Brooklyn Nets during Brooklyn's double OT victory over the Heat.
After Teletovic wrapped his arms around James during a fastbreak in the fourth quarter, James ran over and confronted Teletovic. The two had to be separated by teammates:
Teletovic, who was slapped with a flagrant foul 1, said he was just trying to make a basketball play.
"It was just a foul," Teletovic said. "I just tried to make a foul, and he was coming down the court. He shouldn't be reacting like that. It's just basketball."
Not surprisingly, James didn't see it that way.
"He went around my neck, that was my take," James said after the game. "That was not a basketball play."
Perhaps sensing that James was agitated, Teletovic took to Twitter to continue teasing the Miami Heat star. After the game Teletovic posted this tweet celebrating the team's five-game winning streak:
Five in row... Go @BrooklynNets :) lol ;) pic.twitter.com/hqETfEvzUY
— Mirza Teletovic (@Teletovic33) January 11, 2014
Teletovic also changed his Twitter background to a photo of him smirking while James confronts him.
There's not much love lost between James and the Nets. James has said veteran Nets guard Paul Pierce is his biggest rival, and the Nets have beaten the Heat both times the teams have faced each other this year.
This new skirmish should add considerable drama to the teams' two remaining games (Mar. 12 and Apr. 8). And with the Heat currently the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference and the Nets the No. 8, a juicy first-round playoff matchup isn't out of the question.
