Austin Reaves thought, jokingly, that it should’ve been a technical foul.
Referee Scott Foster thought, also jokingly, that LeBron James had been planning a move like this — a collision between the ref and Lakers star during Saturday’s Game 3, which left Foster with a bloodied lip — for decades.
With just over two minutes left in the second quarter, James started sprinting up the court after the Nuggets made a basket and a teammate inbounded the ball to Reaves.
And despite attempting to turn away, James collided with Foster before midcourt — which prompted the Lakers training staff to tend to Foster — and proceeded to apologize during an exchange captured on a broadcast microphone.
“That should be a tech, honestly,” Reaves joked to the pair, gathered on the sidelines later in the third quarter.
“I didn’t see him,” James said. “I turned and went.”
“I was already in sprint mode,” he continued, after Foster said that he was “trying to get out of your way” before the collision. “My bad, Scott.”
“You’ve been wanting to do that for 25 years,” Foster then joked.
Foster has been an NBA referee for 29 years, according to the ESPN broadcast.
At the time of the collision, the Lakers trailed, 55-48, with 2:29 remaining in the first half and had already chipped away at their 12-point deficit after the opening frame — eventually trimming it to three points at halftime.
But the Nuggets exploded for a 13-0 run in the fourth quarter to win, 119-108, and place the Lakers in a 3-0 deficit that no NBA team has ever escaped in the playoffs.
Anthony Davis led the Lakers with 28 points, while James and Reaves both contributed 23, but Jamal Murray scored 37 points — including 30 in the first half — to carry the Nuggets one step closer to their first appearance in the NBA Finals.
“I can’t speak for the guys right now because I don’t know what’s going through all their minds, but I still (believe),” James told reporters postgame, according to the Associated Press. “So it’s time to go right back home and start to refuel and start the treatment process and recovery process and get ready for Monday. My mindset is always locked in.”