LeBron James barreled into the stands during the third quarter of Philadelphia's blowout of Chicago, spilled a fan's glass of wine in the collision, and then did something nobody expected: he picked up the cup and took a sip before dashing back onto the court.
The fan, identified as Troy Clemons, told reporters that James immediately took responsibility for the crash. “He grabbed me, and he said, 'My bad.' My drink spilled everywhere; he took my drink, took a sip, gave it back, and ran back,” Clemons said, according to Sporting News. The moment happened as James ran past a stanchion while trying to decelerate and ended up in the seats, according to the New York Post.
James addressed the mishap himself when he spoke with the media after Philadelphia's win. “I spilled some of his wine, so I wanted to see if it was worth it on my arm, how good it was,” James said, explaining why he sampled the drink rather than simply handing it back, per The Athletic. His verdict on the vintage was less than glowing: “It was all right.”
Clemons Moves On With a Fresh Pour
Clemons didn't hang onto the souvenir cup for long. The New York Post reported that he eventually tossed it out and bought himself a new drink. BasketNews, which placed the collision in the third quarter of Monday's matchup between the 76ers and Bulls, reported that Clemons laughed the whole thing off rather than making a fuss over his ruined glass of wine.
The viral clip began circulating after a bird's-eye-view video of the exchange was posted on X by Kris Rhim, who captioned the footage, “Here's vid of LeBron taking a sip of a drink from a fan just now during tonight's game,” adding that it marked year 24 for James in the league. A detail worth flagging: some coverage of the moment has identified the fan as Troy Clemons, while at least one image caption referred to him as Tony Clemons, a discrepancy that has not been resolved.
James Still Delivered on the Scoreboard
Spilled wine aside, James had plenty to show for his night. He finished with 15 points, nine assists and seven rebounds as Philadelphia dismantled Chicago 126-107 at Xfinity Mobile Arena, according to The Athletic's box score breakdown. It was his 24th NBA season, and the win kept the 76ers rolling at 7-1, giving them the best record in the Eastern Conference through the opening weeks of the season.
For Clemons, the brush with one of basketball's biggest stars came down to little more than an apology, a questionable sip of wine, and a quick laugh before the game kept moving. For James and the 76ers, it was just another night padding what has become one of the league's hottest starts.
