It’s fair to say that LeBron James is not exactly thrilled about the first suspension of his NBA career. And after the Lakers star returned to the court to score 39 points and lead his team to an overtime victory over the Indiana Pacers following his one-game punishment for — he claims accidentally — hitting Isaiah Stewart in the face, he sounded off to Dave McMenamin of ESPN about the league’s judgement.
In addition to telling McMenamin that he was “devastated” to not get to suit up in Madison Square Garden against the Knicks — his “favorite place in the world to play” — he had a pretty short reaction to (and retelling of) finding out about his one-game ban (emphasis mine):
“Rob [Pelinka] called me.