WATCH: LeBron James Gives Scottie Barnes a Fastball

James took out his frustrations on Barnes on Monday night.

Author:
Austin Veazey
Publish date:
Mar 16, 2022 1:41 AM EDT

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers played Scottie Barnes and the Toronto Raptors on Monday night, with the Raptors coming out on top 114-103. Barnes, a rookie out of Florida State, had a tremendous night with 21 points on 9/17 shooting from the floor, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, two blocks, and a steal. 15 of those 21 points came in the first quarter, where he outscored the Lakers by himself that entire quarter. He also got a lot of time guarding and being guarded by LeBron James.

They had their moments, including a play where James rocketed a ball directly at Barnes while falling out of bounds, with a little bit of intent behind it.

James himself had a very good game, even if the rest of the Lakers didn't, as he finished with 30 points and 9 rebounds. Here's what Scottie Barnes had to say about the play: “I was on the floor, he pushed me on the floor, then I saw him loading up and I just thought, 'Oh man.' That's why I really just tried to cover myself so it didn't hit me in the face. He put a lot of power into it, cocked it back, threw it. I was like, damn.”

The frustrations of a losing season have been getting to James recently, and it looks like he took it all out on this throw at Barnes. He's received a lot of backlash for it, as he does with pretty much anything he does anymore.

Barnes has a great case for NBA Rookie of the Year this season, as he's currently averaging 15.3 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 3.4 APG, 1.2 APG, and 0.8 BPG while shooting 49.1% from the floor and 31.4% from 3. There's been a lot of great rookies this season, but the race between Barnes, Evan Mobley of the Cavaliers, and Cade Cunningham of the Pistons has been an exciting one to watch.