76ers Fan Explains Why He “Threw That Cup in the Trash” After LeBron James Sips His Wine During Game

LeBron James’ love of wine is no secret. In May 2024, when he sat courtside for Game 4 of the Cavaliers-Celtics playoff series in Cleveland, fans spotted a bottle of Opus One under his seat, along with a coffee cup and three bottles of water. On Monday night, a glass of wine found him in the middle of a game.

In the third quarter of the Philadelphia 76ers’ 126-107 win over the Chicago Bulls, with the Sixers up by 11, James and Tyrese Maxey couldn’t connect on a pass in transition. James’ momentum carried him out of bounds and into the crowd behind the basket, right into longtime Sixers fan Troy Clemons, who was walking back to his seat with a drink in hand.

“I’m just walking to my seat, and, you know, loose ball, he went to go for it, crashed into me,” Clemons told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “Drink went everywhere, but it didn’t get on me. Just got on my feet.”

What happened next went viral quickly. “He hugged me and said, ‘My bad.’ Drank the drink and just kept it pushing,” Clemons said. Officials briefly held up the game while James made his way back onto the court.

After the game, ESPN's Kris Rhim talked to Clemens, who was holding a fresh drink.

"Walking to my seat, you know, whatever this beverage is—we won't say what it is," Clemons told Rhim. "LeBron crashed into me; he grabbed me, he said, 'My bad.' My drink spilled everywhere, he took my drink from me, and he basically just took a sip of it and gave it back and ran back on the field [court]. You know what I mean. I'm just glad for him to be here, you know. I'm not worried about the wine getting on me, you know, but you know I appreciate everything the Sixers is doing and I'm here to have a good time, man, appreciate it."

Clemons explained what happened to the cup once LeBron was done with it.

"At the end of the day, he's another man like me," Clemons said when asked what he planned to do with it. "I mean, he's LeBron, but I threw that cup in the trash, and it's nothing up with him, but I just got a fresh drink."

Clemons, who lives in Chestnut Hill, has been going to Sixers games for four decades, dating back to Julius Erving’s days at the Spectrum. In all that time, he’d never had a moment like this. Still, while the fans around him were thrilled, he said he took it in stride.

Afterward, LeBron James explained the sip himself. "I spilled some of his wine. I crashed into him, spilled some of his wine," James told Rhim. "So I wanted to see if it was worth it on my arm and how good it was. It was all right."

Clemons also admitted he was "a little bit more humble" than the people around him, who were excited, and that it happened so quickly he barely processed it at first.

For James, the moment was part of a night where he clearly enjoyed himself. He finished with 15 points, nine assists and seven rebounds as the Sixers improved to 7-1, and he said those small moments matter over a long season.

At 41, that approach seems to be working. The Sixers are winning, the arena is full, and one fan from Chestnut Hill now has a story that will outlast the wine.