What goes around, comes around.
LeBron James made his return from a foot injury on Sunday, but the Lakers couldn't take advantage of the moment. In the heat of a Western Conference playoff race, Los Angeles was routed by the Bulls and a familiar foe made sure to rub it in his former team's face.
Patrick Beverley scored a floater — yes, a floater — over James and hit him with the signature "too small" taunt. The gesture caught fire on social media because of how out-of-place the celebration was given the play.
Patrick Beverley tells LeBron he’s too little 😭 pic.twitter.com/Nu87F5YuH0
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) March 26, 2023
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Luckily for the Lakers, they got a chance for revenge on Wednesday with another matchup against Chicago.
Beverley was still up to his usual antics, hitting James with a Dikembe Mutombo "finger wag" ... after knocking one of LeBron's passes out of bounds.
Bulls V. Lakers is SPICY 🌶️
— Sporting News NBA (@sn_nba) March 30, 2023
Patrick Beverley gives LeBron the Mutombo finger wag 🫢
🎥: @ESPNNBA pic.twitter.com/XUu0NerO3f
Later in the game, with the Lakers comfortably in the lead against the Bulls, Austin Reaves gave Beverley a taste of his own medicine. Reaves hit a running floater over Beverley, then hit him with the "too small" taunt just as Beverley did to James a few days back.
Austin Reaves hit Pat Bev with the "TOO SMALL" 😭 pic.twitter.com/KB6dSDQeuq
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) March 30, 2023
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The Lakers got the last laugh this time, defeating the Bulls 121-110.
After the game, James had a hilarious response when he was asked about Reaves' payback on Beverley.
"AR always got my back. Even though he loved Kobe (Bryant) back in the day more than me ... I forgive him," James said as he burst out laughing.
LeBron James on what he thought about Austin Reaves doing the “too small” gesture to Patrick Beverley: “That AR always got my back. Always. Even though he loved Kobe back in the day more than me. I forgive him.” pic.twitter.com/pt0jAMTFO9
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) March 30, 2023
James was referencing one of Reaves' old posts that went viral recently, throwing shade at his now-teammate.
Austin Reaves posting this on Facebook in 2012 and now LeBron is his teammate 😅 pic.twitter.com/wdIZ8zT6Nk
— PointsBet Sportsbook (@PointsBetUSA) March 13, 2023
Reaves appears to be back on James' good side after having his back in the Beverley nonsense. With the win, the Lakers are back to .500 (38-38) and sit just 1.5 games back from the Warriors for a top-six seed in the West.