CLEVELAND -- A fan with close ties to Cavaliers star LeBron James was relocated from his courtside seat to elsewhere in Quicken Loans Arena after yelling at the Golden State bench and specifically Warriors forward Matt Barnes during Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Friday night.
Todd Leebow was escorted from his seat by security officers in the third quarter. It came moments after an on-court pileup involving Zaza Pachulia, Iman Shumpert and Kyle Korver with 1:10 left in the quarter. Pachulia and Shumpert were called for technical fouls.
During the official review, Leebow and Barnes -- who was on Golden State's bench -- began jawing.
"That s--- was just too close," Warriors forward David West said after the game. "I thought he was jaw-jacking with Zaza, and it was fake, man. That little m-----f----- ain't [gonna] do nothing in real life. So I just told him to shut up and sit down, because he was talking too crazy. And it was a highly tense moment, but we ain't going to let nobody talk crazy to us."
Leebow frequently sits in courtside seats next to James' friends and business partners. For Game 4, he was sitting with James' agent, Rich Paul, and business partner Maverick Carter.
He is the son of Dennis Leebow, a wealthy Cleveland businessman, who was ejected from courtside seats in an Eastern Conference finals game last year.
