LeBron apologizes for subbing himself out vs. Hawks: 'I blew a gasket'
The Cavaliers had little trouble in getting a win over the Hawks on Saturday, but even during a comfortable victory, LeBron James found himself exasperated with one of his teammates.
Midway through the third quarter, Jared Cunningham missed LeBron with a pass to the post that ultimately went out of bounds, and James, clearly frustrated, immediately walked to the sideline and sat himself down on the bench.
It wasn't a legal substitution, so as the Hawks inbounded the ball and brought it up the floor, the Cavaliers were stuck with only four players, which is against NBA rules and resulted in a technical foul.
It didn't matter much in the grand scheme of things since the Cavaliers were up by 26 points at the time, but LeBron still apologized to his teammates afterward for the incident.
"I blew a gasket. You know what that mean?" James said after the game. "I apologized to my teammates for it."
James was asked what he was so upset about, considering the Cavs' lead was so large at the time. "That's not the point," he said.
Cleveland coach David Blatt made light of the situation after the game.
"Well, he was frustrated. He knew we weren't playing right," Blatt said. "And (he) thought we were playing hockey. A hockey sub.
"You know, Bron is a lot of things -- a lot of great things -- but probably where you're not going to see him is out there playing for the (Lake Erie) Monsters (an AHL team based in Cleveland) or the (New York) Rangers. You know what I mean?
"But he was frustrated. I understand his frustration, but obviously, you shouldn't do that."