'It was all right': LeBron James takes a sip of fan's wine during Sixers' win over Bulls

Like many very rich people, 40-somethings and very rich 40-somethings, LeBron James loves himself some wine.

The all-time leading scorer in NBA history has long been nose-deep in the wine game, raising glasses with longtime pals-turned-oenophiles like Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul for more than a decade. His Instagram posts about which wines he and his teammates were enjoying on any given night could drive consumption trends . He's appeared on the cover of Wine Enthusiast magazine ; he once pulled up to a Los Angeles Lakers game with a glass of wine . When he and eventual Lakers head coach JJ Redick launched their basketball strategy podcast, "Mind the Game," every discussion of coverages and tactics was punctuated by no small number of swirls and sips ; no less a source than r/wine has proclaimed the King "no wine slouch." (And Reddit would never steer you wrong.)

"I've heard it's good for the heart," James told ESPN's Baxter Holmes for a story on the NBA's "secret wine society" published in 2020. "Listen, I'm playing the best basketball of my life, and I'm drinking some wine pretty much every day. Whatever it is, I'll take it."

James isn't quite playing the best basketball of his life anymore, near the start of his 24th professional season and his first as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers. He's still pretty damn good, though, and he's still taking it, whatever it is … even if "it" is in a fan's cup during a game.

With the Sixers holding an 11-point lead on the visiting Chicago Bulls in Philadelphia on Monday night, James leaked out in transition after a missed 3-pointer by Bulls swingman Isaac Okoro. After corralling the long rebound, Philly point guard Tyrese Maxey looked up and tossed a hit-ahead pass for the streaking James … that was just a bit too ambitious for the about-to-be-42-year-old to haul in.

As the ball went out of bounds, so too did James. As he did, he bumped into a fan seated several rows back behind the Sixers' basket. Rather than sprinting back onto the floor to get back on defense, though, LeBron lingered for a moment — long enough, in fact, for the referees to prevent the Bulls from inbounding the ball without him, and for Maxey to run after his new teammate to get him back into the game.

Soon afterward, the replays showed us why. LeBron didn't just take a moment to say hi to a fan; he also took a little swig of what the fan was sipping on, too.

"LeBron crashed into me," the fan, Troy Clemons, told ESPN's Kris Rhim . "He grabbed me, he said, 'My bad.' My drink spilled everywhere. He took my drink from me, and he basically just took a sip of it, gave it back and ran back on the field."

"I wanted to see if it was worth it on my arm, how good it was," a smiling James said in the locker room after the game, according to Rhim . "It was all right."

This isn't the first time that James has considered engaging in a bit of mid-game imbibing with fans. Back in 2017, with his Cleveland Cavaliers holding a lead over the Toronto Raptors in the first game of the second round of the playoffs, James found himself frustrated after smoking a layup that would've given him a chance for a three-point play … and expressed his emotions by skipping over to a courtside vendor and grabbing a bottle of beer out of her hand :

That time, though, James didn't actually slug it down.

"Not much of a beer guy," he said at the time. "If she had had some red wine, I probably would have definitely took a sip."

Even with how expensive drinks are at arenas these days, Clemons didn't much mind the spill — or sharing a little bit of his spirit with Philly's newest superstar.

"I'm just glad for him to be here," Clemons said . "I'm not worried about the wine getting on me."

Nor, for that matter, were the 76ers too worried about the Bulls. Philly controlled the action for the bulk of the contest, leading by as many as 22 points in what ended as a 126-107 win . Maxey led all scorers with 26 points and 11 rebounds in the win, which improved the Sixers to 7-1, good for first place in the Eastern Conference — a strong, and very enjoyable, start to the voyage for this new-look superteam.

"Listen, it's a long marathon," James said after the game . "If you don't find ways to have fun throughout it — even though you're working, even though you're locked in — then it could wear on you. So for me, especially at this point in my career too, being able to just appreciate the moments, the small moments."

Clemons enjoyed the moment, too — although, somewhat shockingly, he didn't decide to commemorate it with what would've been a 1-of-1 collectible.

"At the end of the day he's another man like me," Clemons said, according to NBC Sports Philadelphia . "I mean, he's LeBron, but at the end of the day, I threw that cup in the trash. And it's nothing up with him — I just got a fresh drink, though."