Alex Caruso Breaks Silence on Viral Exchange With LeBron James
Thursday night’s Game 2 matchup between the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder featured several heated moments as both teams were frustrated by the officiating.
Late in the third quarter, LeBron James and his former Los Angeles teammate, Alex Caruso, had a heated back and forth as Thunder guard Ajay Mitchell shot free throws.
“No AC [expletive] that,” James said, as captured by the basket microphone at the Paycom Center. “No AC, I don’t want to hear none of that [expletive].”
James and Caruso were teammates when the Lakers won the franchise’s 17th NBA title in 2020.
After the game, Caruso was asked about this viral exchange with James.
“Yeah, it’s just competition, man. This is what this time of year is about,” Caruso explained. “There’s a couple times where they’re yelling something, I’m yelling something back and the refs trying to like get in the way.
“We have to let them know that nobody’s getting mad. … It’s not getting to a point of confrontation, it’s just the playoffs. This is what it’s about. They want to win, we want to win. You’re going to do whatever you got to do to do that.”
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The Lakers were vocally frustrated with game officials after Thursday night’s 125-107 loss. Los Angeles coach JJ Redick specifically called out the referees’ treatment of James.
“LeBron has the worst whistle of any star player I’ve ever seen,” Redick said. “I mean, I’ve been with him two years now. The smaller guys, because they can be theatric, they typically draw more fouls, and the bigger players that are built like LeBron, it’s hard for them. He gets clobbered. He got clobbered again tonight a bunch.”
More Basketball:Alex Caruso Sends Warning About LeBron James as Thunder Battle Lakers
With a 2-0 lead, the Thunder now travel to Los Angeles for a Game 3 matchup at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday night.
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This story was originally published May 8, 2026 at 10:41 AM.