Kyrie Irving On Flagrant Foul: Was Protecting LeBron

Kyrie Irving slammed Philadelphia 76ers forward Justin Anderson into the sideline to earn a flagrant foul less than 90 seconds into the game Friday night and declared it payback for rough treatment of Cavaliers teammate LeBron James. Anderson appeared to shove James from behind moments before and James fell to the court. Irving reacted when Anderson next got the ball and pushed him into the Sixers’ bench.

“Whether it was malicious or not … I kinda saw Justin kinda lower his shoulder and knock down Bron,” Irving said. “I was like … I gotta do something, I’ve got to protect my brother. A lot of late hits on Bron, a lot of guys trying to get one over on him. It’s over for that, it’s over for that.” Said James: “He was protecting me from getting shoved. It’s about it being a brotherhood around here and not letting anything happen to each other.”

Source: Brian Windhorst of ESPN