Andrew Bogut says LeBron James jumped into cameraman

Sam Amick | USA TODAY Sports

Show Caption Hide Caption Kerr's smart move, Warriors' role players turn tide USA TODAY Sports NBA Insiders Sam Amick and Jeff Zillgitt provide analysis on the Warriors' bounce-back Game 4 victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers to even the series at 2-2.

CLEVELAND – LeBron James only has LeBron James to blame for the cut to his head that took place in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.

At least that's how Golden State Warriors big man Andrew Bogut sees it.

When the Cleveland Cavaliers star went flying into a cameraman sitting on the Quicken Loans Arena baseline in the second quarter of the Warriors' 103-82 win, the puzzling part was how he got there. While Bogut had been the one who fouled James hard as he drove to along the baseline, James came down in a vertical fashion before taking two steps as he fell toward the nearby cameraman.

"I think he jumped into the cameraman," Bogut said when asked to give his perspective on the play. "Yeah, I think he came down and took two steps and then fell into the cameraman. I definitely, definitely didn't hit him that hard."

When the reporter replied by saying, "That's how you saw it?" Bogut said, "No, that's how it was. If you look at the replay, you can see the two steps being taken and then him falling into the camera. That's what we saw on the replay, and that's what my teammates saw."

Considering the size of the stakes, it wouldn't shock anyone if James was trying to exaggerate contact as a way to possibly inspire a Flagrant 2 call. Bogut openly wondered if that was James' motivation, noting repeatedly how there were two steps before his head made contact with the camera. ESPN/ABC commentator Mike Breen had a more innocuous take on the matter, saying during the telecast that "James just lost his balance."

The Warriors' Andre Iguodala, it appeared, wasn't nearly so willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Late in the third quarter, when Iguodala was fouled going to the rim, he held his arm in dramatic fashion before giving Stephen Curry a low-five with the same arm while smiling. One Warriors player who was asked if they'd noticed Iguodala's comedy act deemed it "tremendous."

James shot the ensuing free throws after the hit, and one camera angle caught him indicating that he had to do so lest he be disallowed from returning to the game. He then had his head treated, and said afterward that the cut required stitches. He did not, however, have to go through the NBA's concussion protocol.

"No, I didn't have to go through any concussion protocol," James said. "I had a slight headache, which I think every last one of you guys would probably have if you ran into a camera ... But I didn't go through any protocol. I'm fine."

In the moment, though, James was clearly in pain.

"I was just trying to regain my composure, and I was holding my head," he said. "It was hurting. I was just hoping I was just hoping I wasn't bleeding, but obviously the camera cut me pretty bad."

James, who entered play averaging 41 points, 12 rebounds and 8.3 assists in the first three games of the Finals, saw his string of dominant play come to an end. He finished with 20 points (7 of 22 shooting), 12 rebounds and eight assists in nearly 41 minutes. As he left the floor with the blood from the cut still visible and a kiss from his mother, Gloria, surely meant to make him feel better, a Cavs fan hollered down to James and the other Cavs players below, "It's not going to be easy!'

From the fall to the fact that the Cavs must now return to the Warriors' home floor for Game 5 on Sunday, everything about his words were true.

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