Viewers spot awkward LeBron James Olympics moment as Leon Marchand entered the building
LeBron James was subject to quite the awkward encounter with the big screen at the Olympics after he mistakenly lapped up the cheers meant for another sports star
LeBron James was left red-faced after he lapped up cheers from the crowd at the Olympics that were meant for Leon Marchand.
The American basketball icon was spotted by the cameras entering the court as Team USA defeated Brazil 122-87 in the quarter-finals of the men's basketball tournament. As he sat on the bench next to Anthony Davis, James glanced up at the screen and heard a rousing cheer from the crowd.
He then lifted his arm and waved, before imitating placing something on his head - which fans have attributed to placing the 'crown' on his head. While the camera panning on the athlete did give off the impression that fans were cheering for him, the camera then jumped to the crowd to show another familiar face.
French swimmer Leon Marchand was sitting in the crowd taking in the basketball and he glanced up to the screen a few times, laughing with his friends as he did so. The four-time Olympic gold medallist and record holder was actually the subject of the crowd's affection - leaving James looking a bit silly as he soaked up the plaudits aimed at someone else.
The entire exchange was posted on X with the fan writing: "Crowd started cheering and LeBron thought it was for him, but it was for gold medal french swimmer Léon Marchand in the crowd."
This video garnered a whopping 3.7 million views on social media with plenty of fans commenting on the hilarity of the situation.
One person wrote: "Bro really thinks he is the main character all the time." Another said: "Bron really thinks everything is about him smh."
A third wrote: "I was cheering for you King!" A fourth noted: "Muscle memory at this point, understandable confusion."
Some fans were quick to defend James, with one saying: "He looked up on the big screen to see what it was and these idiots had him on there for a good minute, what else was he supposed to think?" Another agreed: "I mean if they was showing the man on the big screen what else he supposed to think?"
Other social media users poked fun at the NBA legend with one claiming: "That's totally embarrassing. He'll be clowned for that in the locker room."
James and the rest of Team USA will take on Serbia in the second semi-final of the day on Thursday, August 8 at 8pm following their dominant victory over Brazil. Meanwhile, Olympic record holder Marchand has now got time to relax after sweeping the men's individual swimming events earlier on in the tournament.
The French swimmer won the men's 400m individual medley, 200m butterfly, 200m breaststroke and 200m medley - setting a new record in the breaststroke event. The 22-year-old became the first French Olympian to win four gold medals at the same Olympic Games and has been compared to swimming icon Michael Phelps.
Follow all the action on day 13 of the Paris Olympics with Mirror Sport's live blog.
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