James said his elbow on Detroit's Isaiah Stewart was accidental following Wednesday night's overtime win over the Pacers in which James scored 39 points.
It was an eventful first game back on Wednesday night for Lakers star LeBron James following his one-game suspension for elbowing Detroit's Isaiah Stewart in the face on Sunday. James scored a season-high 39 points to lead Los Angeles to an overtime win over the Pacers, and afterwards spoke about his suspension publicly for the first time, calling his elbow of Stewart accidental.
“His elbow got kinda high, got me off balance a little bit," James said. "His elbow lifted my arm here, and I basically tried to swing down on his arm. When I swinged down on his arm, he got off balance and the left side of my hand grazed his face. I knew right away I had caught some part of his head, so I went over and apologized to him. Obviously, you guys saw what happened after that. I’m definitely not that type of player. I hate to see that and what escalated after that.”
James said he didn't have an issue with being ejected from the Pistons game, but did not think he deserved to be suspended.
"It warranted an ejection because of what happened after that,” James said. “Having me still in the game, the excitement of the fans, what could possibly happen after that. But a suspension, I didn’t think that was warranted, but the league made that call.”
Against the Pacers on Wednesday, James had two fans sitting court side ejected during overtime after bringing an official over to their seats and pointing them out. While he declined to disclose the specifics of why he had them removed, he addressed the instance in general terms afterward.
“When obscene gestures and language come into it, (it) can’t be tolerated," James said.
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