Friend of LeBron James' agent escorted from courtside seat after jawing with Matt Barnes during NBA Finals

Henry Bushnell
·Senior soccer reporter
(Screenshot: ABC)
(Screenshot: ABC)

During one of the many lengthy reviews — after one of the many scuffles and heated exchanges — of Game 4 of the NBA Finals, the craziness extended beyond the players and coaching staffs and into the crowd.

While referees reviewed an incident between Zaza Pachulia and Iman Shumpert, Golden State Warriors players huddled around head coach Steve Kerr. Most of them had their eyes and attention on Kerr.

Warriors reserve Matt Barnes … well, he didn’t:

Barnes exchanged words with a courtside fan, and only gave up the jawing at the urging of a member of the Warriors staff. David West also appeared to be distracted by Barnes’ back-and-forth with the fan. Eventually, security got involved.

ESPN’s Dave McMenamin identified the fan as Todd Leebow, a friend of Rich Paul, LeBron James’ longtime friend and agent:

The fan that Matt Barnes was arguing with was Todd Leebow, the CEO and president of Majestic Steel. Leebow often attends games in Cleveland alongside LeBron James’ agent, Rich Paul. LeBron James and Tristan Thompson attended Leebow’s wedding in Miami in October 2015.

Others have mentioned that LeBron himself is close friends with Leebow as well.

Security escorted Leebow away from the court before the game resumed after the review:

The argument between Leebow and Barnes, and Leebow’s subsequent removal from his courtside seat, was one of many incidents that will be talked about in between Game 4 and Game 5 — which will be Monday night in Oakland after the Cavs stormed past the Warriors, 137-116.