On Opening Night of the NBA season, the Denver Nuggets and the Los Angeles Lakers were playing each other, and NBA fans went insane when Reggie Jackson appeared to cause LeBron James to stumble before making a three-point shot over him.
However, video evidence has surfaced that demonstrates the guard for the Nuggets did not genuinely humiliate LeBron by leaving him with “broken ankles” on the play in question.
3Video proof shows Reggie Jackson caused LeBron James to fall on a viral play from the Los Angeles Lakers-Denver Nuggets matchupCredit: TNT
3Jackson stepped on LeBron’s foot, tripping him up before knocking down a 3 over the four-time NBA championCredit: TNT
3Many NBA fans mocked James for having his ‘ankles broken’ immediately after the playCredit: TNT
In the early minutes of the second half, before the viral play took occurred, Jamal Murray found Jackson free in the corner of the court.
James moved in close to the 6-foot-2 guard to challenge the shot he was going to take.
However, following what seemed to be a jab step by the Nuggets star, the four-time NBA champion went to the ground. Prior to Jackson’s three-point shot, which put the score 40-22 for Denver, the Nuggets were able to regain the lead.
A significant number of people who were watching the game immediately took to various forms of social media to make fun of LeBron for allegedly having his “ankles broken” by Jackson.
In basketball parlance, this indicates that a defender was tricked by the player who had possession of the ball to the point that they lost their balance and fell to the court below.
Some people have even argued that James is starting to feel the effects of old age, and they have urged the 19-time All-Star to “retire.”
On the other hand, more level-headed NBA fans flocked to the Lakers forward’s rescue and shared videos of the play caught from a different viewpoint.
The videos showed Jackson pretending to take a shot before stepping on James’ foot, which resulted in the four-time Most Valuable Player falling to the ground.
“Reggie ‘makes’ LeBron fall before canning the 3 to add insult to injury,” a user on X said.
“Watch the replay, and you’ll see he almost sprains his ankle stepping on LeBron’s foot, which is what caused LBJ to go down.”
One more voice chimed in, saying, “Clear offensive foul NOT called. “How pitiful!”
And a third individual stated: “Reggie Jackson stepped on LeBron’s foot and people gonna act like he got his ankles broken.”
Since the playoffs of the previous year, when the Nuggets defeated LeBron James and company in the conference finals and then went on to win the NBA championship, there has been considerable bad blood between Denver and Los Angeles.
The rivalry was fueled even further when a sportscaster from Colorado referred to the Lakers’ head coach Mike Malone as “the Lakers’ daddy” during the title parade in June.