LeBron James’ heated on-court interaction with Lakers teammate spotted by live TV viewers in wild NBA win over Pelicans

LOS Angeles Lakers star LeBron James had no patience for his teammates' mistakes in the last seconds of Tuesday's 110-106 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Lakers beat the Pelicans in a play-in tournament thriller to secure the No. 7 seed in the 2024 NBA Playoffs.

Los Angeles led by as many as 18 points in the third quarter.

But the Pelicans mounted a surreal comeback and tied things up late in the clash.

Zion Williamson carried his team in one of the best performances of his career, ending the night with 40 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists.

But the 6-foot-6 forward got injured in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, halting NOLA's momentum.

James, 39, knew the Lakers had an opportunity to deal the final blow to the Pelicans, who had tied the game four times in the last period but never regained the lead.

And so he got really upset when Rui Hachimura seemingly got lost on an after-time-out (ATO) play with Los Angeles leading 104-102 and just 38.2 seconds left on the clock.

Hachimura failed to take D'Angelo Russel's place on the right wing after the guard cut to the left following the inbound pass, leaving that area of the court completely empty.

James then furiously gestured and jumped up and down to show Hachimura he missed the rotation.

The interaction didn't escape NBA Twitter's attention.

"Rui wasn't paying attention, Bron told him to clear out like for 5 seconds lol," one fan wrote.

"LeBron is gonna smack Rui for not cutting in time," another added.

"Rui or D'Lo didn’t listen to the play, LeBron shouldn’t be having to yell at y’all to go to other side dawg," a third said.

"Bron yelling at Rui LMFAO," one wrote.

The Lakers ended up blowing the play after wasting almost 10 seconds to get the positioning right.

The possession ended with James being double-teamed and throwing up an airball.

However, Anthony Davis bailed them out by snatching the ball before getting fouled by Herb Jones on a putback attempt, resulting in two free throws for Los Angeles.

Davis then knocked down both freebies, effectively icing the game.

James finished the matchup with 23 points, nine rebounds, nine assists, three steals, and two blocks.

But the 20-time All-Star logged just eight points on 18.2% shooting in the second half.

The Lakers will face the Denver Nuggets, the defending NBA champs who swept Los Angeles in last season's Western Conference Finals, in the first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs.

Meanwhile, the Pelicans will face the Sacramento Kings – who beat the Golden State Warriors in the play-in matchup between teams Nos. 9-10 – on Friday for the final Western Conference playoff spot.

The winner of the Pelicans-Kings contest will face the West's top seed, the Oklahoma City Thunder, in the postseason.