LeBron James was ejected from an NBA game. Yes, you read that right folks. LeBron James, one of the greatest players of all-time, just got ejected from a game. And what's even more shocking is WHY he got ejected: The Los Angeles Lakers superstar targeted Detroit Pistons forward Isaiah Stewart, delivering a vicious elbow that left the latter bleeding. It was an incident that very nearly spurred another Malice at the Palace… at Little Caesar's Arena.

Still, fans might be shocked to know that this isn't the first time the Lakers star got ejected – it's his SECOND time. Here's what happened the day LeBron James got an ejection from an official.

LeBron James Ejections

The First Ejection

November 29, 2017. The Cleveland Cavaliers were in the midst of a home stand against LeBron's former team, the Miami Heat. The King was putting up big numbers: 21 points on 10-of-16 shooting, 12 rebounds, 6 assists, and 5 steals. You know, the typical ‘Bron performance we've gotten used to.

In the third quarter, LeBron drove to the rack, being guarded by then-rookie Bam Adebayo. There was some contact there, but nothing too egregious. James certainly didn't feel that way, and after his shot missed, he immediately went over to the nearest referee, Kane Fitzgerald, and talked to him in a nice, respectful manner…

Welp, guess not.

Truth be told, it was confusing for LeBron to be this heated in a game. One, his team was up by 23 points when he was ejected. Two, LeBron was playing extremely well. And three, it's an early regular-season game. Why was he so heated? Nonetheless, Bron was ejected from the game by Fitzgerald after two swift technical fouls. When asked by the media, Fitzgerald reasoned that:

“It was a culmination of a couple different acts… Immediately after the no call, he turned and threw an air punch directly at me and then he aggressively charged at me and then he used vulgarity in my ear a few times.”

Fair enough. It was the only time LeBron ever got ejected in a game over the course of his then 15-year career. Three years later, we have Ejection #2.

 The Second Ejection

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While one could argue that LeBron's ejection in 2017 was unwarranted, the recent incident is a little more solid. In the third quarter of the Lakers' visit to Detroit, James was being boxed out by Pistons sophomore Isaiah Stewart. There was a little physicality, of course, but LeBron felt it was excessive. In retaliation, the Lakers star extended his fist, hitting Stewart straight in the face.

Is it intentional? Sure looked like it, though we can't be certain. Stewart certainly felt it was: he immediately charged at LeBron, bloodied face and all. The sophomore forward had to be restrained by multiple people, clearly wanting a piece of LeBron. At the end of this whole ordeal, LeBron was charged with a flagrant two foul for an unnecessary blow above the shoulders. He was promptly ejected from the game.