LeBron James may have played his last game in the purple and gold jersey as the Lakers’ season ended with a sweep against the defending champions, the Thunder, in their Western Conference Semifinals series of the 2026 NBA playoffs.
At Game 4, when the Lakers were down 0-3 in the series, with eight minutes left in the first quarter, LeBron James took exception to some trash-talking from the Thunder bench. Despite being near a sweep at the time, James immediately clapped back.
A video was then released on social media by social media lip reader, Legendz, that captured what LeBron James said to the Thunder bench, who called him out for complaining to officials too much for a foul call when they felt Ajay Mitchell got ‘all ball’ on a contentious play.
When James got the call in his favor, he was at the free-throw line when he began chirping back at the Thunder’s bench.
“It’s you? No, no, I got it. It’s somebody over there,” James said as he looked for someone on the Thunder bench who seemed to say something that James did not like.
“Nah! Nah! Don’t worry, I got it. Is it you?” said James as he apparently found the person he was looking for.
“Your stupid a– shouldn’t be talking,” the 41-year-old added. The TV broadcast angle, as well as the video, did not contain any information on who exactly James was talking to, but it was someone on the Thunder’s bench.
The video then showed Dillon Brooks, who was also in attendance at Game 4 to watch the Thunder close out the Lakers. He apparently also had a comment about the call.
“That’s all ball,” he seemingly said, as per the video.
What LeBron James Really Said To The Thunder Bench👀:
“It’s somebody over there… it’s you? Your stupid a** shouldn’t be talking”
The camera pointed at Dillon Brooks right after, who said: “That’s all ball” pic.twitter.com/QOLyroKzeU
— LegendZ (@legendz_prod) May 13, 2026
Brooks, who is infamous for his on-court rivalry with LeBron James, also went viral for attending the game. However, he later confirmed that he was not there to ‘hate watch’ LeBron James or the downfall of the Lakers. He went to attend the game only because it was an hour away from where he was, and he had been following the Thunder, presumably to support his national teammates, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort.
Dillon Brooks Had Good Things To Say About LeBron James
James left everything he had on the court in Game 4 but struggled to make his shots as he put up 24 points, 12 rebounds, and three assists, while going 8-18 from the field (44.4 FG%) and 2-6 from three-point range (33.3 FG%).
But the Thunder eventually overpowered the Lakers 115-110 to close out the series. However, the Suns’ forward, Dillon Brooks, spoke to Kelly Iko of Yahoo Sports after Game 4 and gave LeBron James his flowers.
“I don’t think it’s his last year,” Brooks said. “I think he got one more in him. I watched him when I was in the NBA, when I was a kid in high school. He’s got a phenomenal career and battled everybody and done it at a high level throughout. It’s been amazing to watch overall, a pleasure to battle against him.”
You know you have achieved an elite status when even your rivals speak highly of you. Even James gave the Thunder their flowers and urged them to go win it all.
LeBron James is now an unrestricted free agent and has yet to decide on his future. But looking at the passion with which he plays, and considering he is still playing at a high level, that he is still better than 90% of the league, one could argue he has at least one more season in him.