Longtime Sixers fan Troy Clemons shares a memorable moment, and his drink, with LeBron
James took a sip of Clemons’ wine after crashing into the Philadelphia native during the third quarter of the Sixers’ win over the Bulls on Monday.
Troy Clemons said he has been coming to 76ers games for four decades, since Julius Erving was playing in the Spectrum.
Never in all those games and all those years did Clemons have a moment like he had in the third quarter of the Sixers’ 126-107 win over the Bulls.
On a Sixers possession, Tyrese Maxey and LeBron James couldn’t quite connect on a pass in transition, with James’ momentum carrying him out of bounds past the Sixers basket and into the crowd. There, with a drink in his hand, was Clemons, who said he was returning back to his seat when James barreled toward him.
“I’m just walking to my seat, and, you know, loose ball, he went to go for it, crashed into me,” said Clemons, who lives in Chestnut Hill. “Drink went everywhere, but it didn’t get on me. Just got on my feet.”
What happened next was quickly all over the internet in minutes. James grabbed his cup and took a drink.
“He hugged me and said, ‘My bad.’ Drank the drink and just kept it pushing,” Clemons said.
As for what was in the cup?
“I don’t want to say what it is,” Clemons said. “Because I don’t want to get him in trouble.”
But James wasn’t shy to say after the game that it was wine. He ended up with some of it on him after it spilled out of the cup.
“I crashed into him, spilled some of his wine. So, I wanted to see if it was worth it on my arm and how good it was,” James said. “It was all right.”
The crowd on that end of the arena cheered a bit as James did that, then ran back onto the floor as officials held the game up momentarily for him to return to the court. Clemons said those around him in the crowd might have been more excited than he was. The interaction happened so fast he didn’t have much time to process it.
“Everybody was excited,” Clemons said. “I guess for me, I was a little bit more humble. It definitely was a nice experience. I didn’t really catch on to what was going [on] at first until I looked over and was like, ‘Oh.’”
For Clemons, the moment was memorable not just for the interaction, but for what James and this team has meant so far to Sixers fandom. He’s glad James is here, and that this team has rejuvenated the fanbase. He said attending Sixers games is “getting back to what they used to be.”
“I go back to the Dr. J days, the A.I. [Allen Iverson] days and even when we wasn’t winning, the excitement A.I. brought to the city, people still came from miles around,” Clemons said. “And that’s what Philly is getting back to, where people is coming from every other city to our city now. Just hope we do what we can do.”
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For James, the interaction was part of a night in which he seemed to have a lot of fun on the floor. He had 15 points, nine assists and seven rebounds and was celebrating with his teammates and smiling throughout the game. Having a sip of Clemons’ drink is just one way to enjoy the journey of an 82-game season.
“It’s a long marathon,” James said. “If you don’t find ways to have fun throughout it, even though you’re working, even though you’re locked in, then it can wear on you, you know?
“So, for me, especially at this point in my career, too, being able to just appreciate the moments, the small moments, and these fans are great to us. We try to be great to them as well by playing the game the right way, playing the game hard, and then also just being showmen as well.”
