A man was arrested Friday night on suspicion of stalking LeBron James after allegedly showing up at the NBA superstar’s Los Angeles property and telling police he believed he was James’ son, according to TMZ.
Law enforcement sources told TMZ that security personnel first spotted the unidentified man on surveillance cameras around 9 p.m. and called police. Officers from the Los Angeles Police Department then responded and took the suspect into custody on suspicion of stalking.
TMZ reported that the man made the bizarre claim while speaking with authorities. “Oddly enough … the suspect claimed to believe he is LeBron's son during his chat with cops,” TMZ reported.
Police confirmed the suspect never made it inside James’ residence, though a stalking report was still filed after the incident. The man’s identity has not been released, and there has been no indication that James or his family came into contact with him.
The arrest came only days after James took legal action against a sports betting app that he says used his name and likeness without permission. On Thursday, James sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Bron AI sports betting app over an advertisement that evoked his identity without authorization.
James is also in the middle of his 24th NBA season with Philadelphia, which fell 119-95 to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night in an NBA Cup game. The loss dropped the 76ers to 8-2 on the season after their fast start.
Philadelphia now heads into the final game of its three-game road trip Sunday against the Chicago Bulls at 3:30 p.m. ET. The 76ers beat Chicago 126-107 on Monday and will try to do it again as they keep pushing through the opening stretch of the season in the Eastern Conference.
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