In the third quarter of Friday's 99-96 Bulls win over the Cavaliers, center Joakim Noah committed a nonshooting foul on forward LeBron James, who said after the game that Noah made an offensive personal comment after the foul, ESPN reports.
"I'm a father with three kids. It got very disrespectful," James said. "I'm OK with competing against Jo. I love the competitive nature, but we should leave it there. The disrespectful words that he said to me were uncalled for."
A few seconds later, James finished on a dunk when Noah was unable to get into position, and the Cavaliers forward stared down Noah and was called for a technical.
"The best way to retaliate is by making a play. That's the only way I know how to resolve things is by making a play to help our team," James said. "If it was the '90s or '80s, I would've been able to say what I had to say and move on. But I got the T. And I earned it."
Noah responded to James's actions with some comments and was also handed a technical. He said after the game that he had "mad respect" for James and they were just two players trying to win a game.
