LeBron James has long said he has a glass of wine a day, and he’s partly credited it for his longevity. On Monday night he got an impromptu tasting in the middle of a game.
In the third quarter against the Chicago Bulls, with the 76ers up by 11, James chased a loose ball and collided with a fan carrying a cup of red wine, his favorite. So he took a sip.
“I wanted to see if it was worth it on my arm, how good it was. It was all right,” James said with a smile.
That fan was Troy Clemons, a longtime Sixers season-ticket holder who grew up with Julius Erving’s sons. He wasn’t starstruck by the moment, he said, and he wasn’t upset that James took the sip.
“I’m just glad for him to be here,” Clemons told ESPN. “I’m not worried about the wine getting on me.”
The Sixers went on to win 126-107, and the wine-fueled James finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and nine assists as Philadelphia improved to 7-1.
The sip wasn’t the only moment. James danced after an and-one layup that sent Tyrese Maxey into hysterical laughter, then danced with Maxey moments later when the point guard hit an and-one of his own.
He also threaded passes to teammates through tight windows all night. On the surface, it looked like the most fun James has had since arriving in Philadelphia.
“Listen, it’s a long marathon. If you don’t find ways to have fun throughout it, even though you’re working, even though you’re locked in, then it could wear on you,” he said. “So for me, especially at this point in my career too, being able to just appreciate the moments, the small moments.
“These fans are great to us. We try to be great to them as well by playing the game the right way, playing the game hard, and then also just being a showman as well. But it was a great game for us.”
It isn’t the first time James has had a run-in with alcohol during a game. In Game 1 of the 2017 Eastern Conference semifinals, after missing an and-one layup, he playfully took a beer bottle from a vendor’s hand, made a motion as if to take a sip, and handed it back.
The Sixers play the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday. Detroit is the only team to beat them so far.
James Scores 20 as Sixers Edge Knicks 98–93 in NBA Cup Action
Yankeescores reported that a step-back 3-pointer from Jalen Brunson erased what had been an 11-point fourth-quarter lead for the 76ers on Friday night, sending the Knicks-heavy crowd at Xfinity Mobile Arena into a frenzy.
But the Sixers had an answer: LeBron James.
