Israeli girl goes viral next to LeBron James

An Israeli girl took the internet by storm with her exuberant reaction to NBA star LeBron James taking a seat beside her during Saturday night’s game between his Los Angeles Lakers and the Golden State Warriors.

A video clip shared by the NBA’s official Twitter account showed the girl, Gaia Kimchi, 12, seated courtside, gasping in disbelief as the 38-year-old superstar forward – who had not suited up for the game because of an injury – sits right next to her.

.@espn interview a 12-years-old who sitting next to lebron –when @kingjames still next to her. ???????????? pic.twitter.com/Gg8ImTqzhn
— Kangmas Harry (@_HarRam) February 12, 2023

During the game, Kimchi told reporters that she had pre-booked tickets months ago in the hope of seeing James overtake Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA legend whose longstanding career scoring record was broken by James last week.

“He was sitting next to me and I’m just thinking, oh my goodness, this is the best moment of my life,” she said, with James still alongside her.

James even took the time to pose for a photo with the young Israeli, in a picture that was later shared by the Lakers’ official Twitter account.

Wholesome moment for your timeline ???? pic.twitter.com/X6Cwz3tGnA

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) February 12, 2023

The video of Kimchi and James had garnered over 11 million views and thousands of reactions on Twitter.

While many reactions on social media were positive, some of the comments on Twitter were openly critical of the girl for being a “privileged kid with courtside seats”.

Hebrew media reports said Kimchi was an Israeli now living in California.

Times of Israel