For many players, coaches and spectators alike, the Baltimore Ravens‘ 45-6 thrashing of the Los Angeles Rams on Monday night ended after four quarters. However, this was evidently not the case for cornerbacks Jalen Ramsey and Marcus Peters. 

After the game, Peters embraced Rams staff member Jacques McClendon and Rams approached him shortly afterwards. Though it remains unclear who initiated the altercation, both players quickly began shouting at each other. Peters — who was not wearing a helmet — was seen directing an expletive in Ramsey’s direction.

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Following the tirade, Ramsey had to be restrained by team personnel the entire way off of the field, and appeared afterwards to be waiting for Peters in the tunnel by the locker room; Peters exited the field minutes after, shirtless and reportedly shouting about how they had knocked Ramsey’s team out of the playoffs the previous year, a reference to the Ravens beating the Rams and hurting their playoff chances.

After tensions appeared to settle down, neither player went out of his way to comment on the argument.

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“If you’ve got questions about the game, I’ll answer that,” Ramsey told reporters. “Other than that, I ain’t going to answer no B.S.”

Rams running back Todd Gurley offered his thoughts on the performance of former teammate Peters after the game.

“Marcus is out there doing what he does best,” Gurley said. “He’s going to make his presence known. He’s going to make you pay for mistakes. That’s kind of what he did tonight.”

Ravens linebacker Matthew Judon echoed that sentiment:

“He wanted to come in and get this win like you always do when you go back home,” Judon told reporters. “For him to get that pick late in the game really killed everything. They had a little momentum, were getting first downs, and Pete came up with that huge pick. He’s going to let you know about it. We love that guy in the locker room.”

Although there is not much that is clear about the beginning of the altercation, what is clear is how the Ravens picked apart the Rams en route to a sizable victory.

The Ravens, led by quarterback Lamar Jackson, have recently been hot. Baltimore sits atop the AFC North at 9-2 after a seven-game win streak.

On Sunday night, the Los Angeles Rams lost to the downtrodden Philadelphia Eagles 30-23.

marcus Peters Yells at rams Fan

A late comeback looked to be in the works after a beautiful kick by Greg Zuerlein and then a defensive stop. It was the first time in two weeks quarterback Jared Goff had looked like the earlier season version of himself. But that all came crashing down after JoJo Natson fumbled a punt that the Eagles recovered.

That wasn’t the only meltdown, however. Cornerback Marcus Peters appeared to get into an argument with a fan during the game. The fan was seated just behind the team’s bench. No one is entirely sure of what the fan said but it set the Pro Bowl corner off. Peters walked straight to the fan and started yelling at him.

“Where you from, homie? Where you from?” Peters yelled as he walked.

By the time he got there, things got much more explicit. Peters said, “Square ass n—a, talk that s—t now. F— you mean.”

Here’s the video:

Former Saturday Night Live star Taran Killam was sitting nearby and tweeted: “Saw the whole thing go down. Despite 8-10 security members and Rams personnel stepping in to diffuse the situation, Peters couldn’t let it go. Guy he was talking to was escorted out. Friend sitting closer said he overheard it had to do with old high school beef.”

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A team official and safety John Johnson III pulled Peters away from the fan. Throughout all this, he repeatedly yelled out “Where you from homie?”

Peters was traded to the Rams this offseason after reports of attitude issues and being uncoachable, which stemmed from his time in Kansas City. If Peters was called a racial slur, it’s unlikely that he’ll face a fine. Head coach Sean McVay is expected to speak on the incident.

Discussing the all-time greatest of anything is an absurd topic which goes on and on forever due to the implicit subjectivity of its nature. Whether it be movies, music, books, television, basically anything, declaring one single entity as the greatest of its particular place in the world is never an easy task. All forms of media are constantly evolving, and it’s nigh impossible to truly determine who or what was the best ever at what they did.

Sports is one of the prime examples of these uncertainties, as they are constantly undergoing rigorous amounts of change within the span of just a few years. Take baseball, for example. Babe Ruth is largely regarded by many to be the greatest to ever play the game. His 714 home runs are still good for third-most all time, despite having ended his career 83 years ago. And while that number is obviously impressive, you have to take into account the time in which Ruth was playing. The man was out-homering entire teams at certain points in his career, and his 714 home runs absolutely shattered the previous record of 138 set by Roger Connor, who retired in 1897. To put that into perspective, that’s the same as some inhuman athlete taking Barry Bonds’s record of 762 and hitting over 5 times that amount, achieving the impossible total of 3,942 home runs. That’s one home run per 2.5 of Bonds’s career at bats. It’s almost certainly never going to happen, but you have to keep that in mind.

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So one can’t help but wonder: if Babe Ruth played in the 21st century, would he have hit almost 4,000 home runs? Would he have maintained the same statistics he had in the ’20s and ’30s? Or would he have struggled against the type of pitching he would face today and been a guy who would hit 400 home runs while batting .220? Back in Ruth’s playing days, pitchers were still closing out their own starts on a regular basis, and their pitch velocities were nowhere near what they are today. My point here is that we could never know how Ruth would fair in today’s MLB since he played so long ago, but what if he had played in just the past few decades? Now there’s the discussion that has circled the world of basketball for the last few years.

Michael Jordan dominated the NBA like no other player before him. From the moment he stepped on the floor, the world knew his name. He led the league in scoring each year from 1986-87 through 1992-93, and as we all know, he capped off the final three seasons of that span by leading his Chicago Bulls to three straight NBA Finals victories. Then, after taking two years off to play Minor League Baseball, he returned to basketball and led the Bulls to another three straight Finals victories. He finished off his career with the record for average points scored per game over the course of an NBA player’s career, is now fourth on the all-time scoring list (and would definitely be higher had he not taken those two years off in the mid-’90s), and was undoubtably considered the greatest basketball player of all time. There was never a doubt in anybody’s mind about that title…until a certain kid from Akron, Ohio came along.

LeBron James is unlike anything basketball as seen before. At 6’8″ and 250 pounds, he is strong enough to match up with any big man in the NBA, capable of barreling through the staunchest of defenses and posterizing anybody who dares get in his way. However, he also contains an immaculate basketball IQ, court vision, speed, quickness, and ball-handling abilities, which enables him to run the point as well as any guard in the league. LeBron is the ultimate basketball player, and has been deemed good enough to be considered in the same context of greatness as Jordan, with discussions being held as to whether or not he should hold the title of GOAT. The debate which has been raging for years, and I’m here to tell you that I think it’s over with the hottest of all basketball hot takes: LeBron James is the greatest basketball player of all time, and I truly believe that everyone else will jump on that bandwagon if his Cavaliers somehow, some way manage to win the NBA Finals this year.

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But let’s back up for a quick second and talk about why I find him to be the greatest ever, despite not having won the 2018 Finals as of right now. Jordan was a scorer, first and foremost, and was the greatest to ever do so, and that includes LeBron. His per game scoring record is something of legend, and it’s a mark which LeBron will almost definitely never reach. Jordan was as clutch as could be, with his last second midrange shooting becoming just as iconic as his “I don’t care about gravity”-style dunks. Jordan was almost equally as elite on defense, making several first team all-NBA defensive teams and becoming the first player in NBA history to take home both the Defensive Player of the Year and MVP awards in the same season. It is, however, his offense for which he is most remembered.

Playing basketball is more than just scoring and perimeter defense, though. Teams require players who can read defenses, make passes, grab tough rebounds, and anticipate everything that’s going to happen on a given play, and LeBron has Jordan edged in all of those categories. Over the course of his illustrious career, LeBron has averaged 7.4 rebounds per game and 7.2 assists per game, which edge out Jordan’s career averages by 1.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists. LeBron is already 11th all time in total assists and could very well enter the top 5 by the time his career is said and done.

So these are the non-negotiables: Jordan was the better scorer and perimeter defender, LeBron is the better rebounder and passer (throw interior defender in there as well, thanks to his size and strength). Cut and dry, that’s just how it is. However, when it comes to the MJ-LeBron debate, one number is always paramount among the discussion: how many championship rings adorn each player’s fingers, and that’s where my prior rambling about Babe Ruth comes into play.

The ’80s and ’90s were a completely different era of basketball. Mid-range shooting was the lay of the land on offense, with teams working primarily on fundamental basketball. Elite athleticism was a big bonus but not a requirement, which was a huge part of what made MJ so special. Not only was he an elite mid-range shooter, but his jumping and dunking abilities were unparalleled. This combination of savvy shooting and unequalled athleticism was what propelled Jordan into the unstoppable force that he became, and allowed him to lead his team to six NBA championships.

However, that is entirely not the case in today’s NBA, which has all but abandoned the mid-range game in favor of driving to the basket at full speed and/or shooting from beyond the three-point line. What this entails is that one of the two biggest facets of Jordan’s offensive game would be severely hindered. His driving ability would still be invaluable, but his shooting? Maybe not so much, as he likely would not be taking nearly as many mid-range shots. Moreover, he was never a great three-point shooter, hitting 32.7% of his shots from deep over his entire career and only surpassing 38% in a single full season once, so there’s reason to believe that his scoring numbers would take a pretty big hit. And it obviously goes without saying that LeBron is perfect for today’s NBA, considering the amount of success he’s had in the modern basketball culture throughout his entire career.

Despite all of his success on the court, though, LeBron “only” has three rings and has lost in the Finals four times (a misfortune which never found Jordan). That’s a discussion in and of itself, but perhaps a bigger argument is in regards to the fact that LeBron couldn’t win a championship without forming “super teams” in Miami and his second stint in Cleveland. It’s more or less true: he needed Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love to win championships, but it’s not like Jordan didn’t have any help either.

Before the Bulls drafted Scottie Pippen in 1988, the team under Jordan’s leadership could never make it out of the first round of the playoffs. LeBron managed to will the Cleveland Cavaliers to a Finals appearance during the 2006-07 season, and do you know who the second-best player on that team was? Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who wasn’t exactly a star. So not only did LeBron make it out of the first round of the playoffs basically by himself, something which Jordan could never do, but he even made the Finals. Granted, the Cavs got swept by the Spurs, but that San Antonio team was as good as it gets.

Basically, it’s almost impossible to win a championship in today’s NBA without at least two star players (except for the Dallas Mavericks in 2011), so that “super team” argument is irrelevant. And even if it weren’t, the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors were the best regular season team in NBA history, and LeBron and the Cavs still managed to beat them in the Finals. That was nothing short of incredible, and Golden State’s addition of superstar forward Kevin Durant going into the following season has made them even better.

With the Cavs meeting up with the Warriors in the Finals for the fourth time in a row, which also marks LeBron’s eighth consecutive trip to the championship round (an amazing feat on its own), I firmly, firmly believe that LeBron could cement his place as the undisputed greatest basketball player of all time. Perhaps other than his 2006-07 team, this years Cavaliers squad is the worst team LeBron has ever taken to the Finals, and he has done so with every other player on his back. In this postseason so far, he is scoring 34.9 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 8.7 assists per game, making this arguably the best playoffs run in NBA history. He has singlehandedly brought this team to where they are now, and they very well could have won Game 1 had it not been for JR Smith being entirely unaware of the game’s score and dribbling out the clock when he shouldn’t have.

What LeBron has done and continues to do on a basketball court is as incredible as it gets, and at 33-years-old, he’s playing as well as ever and shows absolutely no signs of slowing down. This year’s Finals will arguably be his fiercest challenge, the likes of which Jordan had never seen, and if Cleveland somehow manages to come out on top of the series, LeBron will have cemented his status as the greatest basketball player of all time. Like I’ve said, I already see him as the best, but such a monumental achievement would make any debate to the contrary very, very difficult to make.

We’ll see if LeBron can move ever closer to the true NBA crown when he and the Cavs take on the Warriors in Oakland for Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday, June 6 at 9:00 pm EST.

LeBron James has apologized to teammate Tristan Thompson for yelling at him in a timeout huddle during  the Cleveland Cavaliers‘ 135-130 double-overtime home victory over the Indiana Pacers on Sunday night.

LeBron James Is Sorry For Yelling At Tristan Thompson in last-minute Timeout vs Pacers

The shouting match— which seemed to involve Thompson screaming more at James than the other way around — began after James seemed frustrated with poor defensive coverages on Paul George, who at one point in overtime scored 16 straight points for the Pacers and finished with 43 points.

James, who scored 41 points and had 16 rebounds, was George’s main defender, but Indiana was running plays that forced Thompson to switch to George.

Shortly after Cavs forward Kevin Love scored a crucial 3-pointer for a four-point lead (131-127) with 26 seconds remaining in the second overtime, James and Thompson began heatedly arguing. James even waved off coach Tyronn Lue when he attempted to calm James down.

Watch the altercation here:

Immediately following the game, James voiced regret for his actions.

“I have to do a better job of not showing up my teammates out on the floor. I had the right intentions in my mind, but I had the wrong intentions come out of my mouth,” James told Fox Sports Ohio on the court after the game ended. “I take full responsibility for that as the leader of the team. So I got to be a lot better at that and be able to keep that in-house in the locker room and when we’re watching film.”

James elaborated on this in the locker room by complimenting Thompson, in part.

“I was a little bit too demonstrative at that point in the game,” James said. “He worked hard for our team, he’s a big-time player … but the way it came out was — it didn’t look good on TV.”

Following James’ apology to Thompson in the locker room, Cavs general manager David Griffin briefly spoke to Thompson before the center addressed reporters, saying the scuffle just happened because of a simple misunderstanding.

“We’re family. Little miscommunication in the huddle. Move forward. Move forward. We’re family. Got each other’s back always. Move forward,” Thompson said. “Not going to get into (the reasons), just miscommunication, like I said. Move forward. It is what it is. Got the win.”

James and Thompson share the same agent and are close friends off the court: they generally spend time together socially, including working out together.

Although the Cavs won their game and James and Thompson both acknowledged their verbal fight was resolved, the mood in the team’s locker room was visibly sour. Kyrie Irving, who scored 23 points, left without speaking to the press for the second time in a week.

Cleveland (49-27) are now tied with Boston in the loss column for the top seed in the Eastern Conference. The Cavs have the tiebreaker now, although the teams will play on Wednesday in Boston, and the winner will control the tiebreaker.

CLEVELAND, OH – JUNE 08: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers shoots the ball during the second half against the Golden State Warriors in Game 3 of the 2016 NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena on June 8, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio.

A UNC fan was ejected from the Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on Wednesday following a verbal dispute with Louisville coach Rick Pitino during the Tar Heels’ 74-63 victory over the Cardinals.

UNC Fan Ejected After Altercation with Louisville’s Rick Pitino

Pitino began heading toward the locker-room tunnel past the student section at halftime when a male fan “got in my face and said something I didn’t like,” the 64-year-old coach stated.

“I take it from the students all the time; you expect it from the students. But from an adult? And then to turn his back on me like he’s a coward?” Pitino said. “And he is a coward, but North Carolina is a classy place and he doesn’t speak for the rest of the people.”

According to ESPN’s Maria Taylor, the fan in question shouted, “Pitino, you suck!”

Pitino responded by also angrily yelling at the heckler, and had to be restrained by his coaching staff. Louisville trailed 33-30 at halftime.

Jonathan Jones of Sports Illustrated caught the altercation between the coach and the fan:

Jeff Greer of the Courier-Journal reported on the aftermath of the heated exchange:

“I’ve always said this is the classiest place in college basketball, until I met a fan on the way out,” Pitino said. “It always reminded me of a class place, but they’re getting just like some of the other places now.”

North Carolina coach Roy Williams wasn’t informed of the incident until after the game and said he apologized to Pitino.

“I don’t like that. We’re North Carolina. We don’t have to be like everybody else,” Williams said. “You can raise Cain, you can boo, but you don’t have to say stuff that we as coaches have to put up with on the road. I hope that never happens again at North Carolina.”

Pitino, a Hall of Famer, has been a college basketball head coach since 1978, including two stints in the NBA. He has long been a polarizing figure, which partly explains Wednesday night’s incident at UNC.

Justin Jackson scored 21 points for the Tar Heels (24-5, 12-3), and Donovan Mitchell also scored 21 for the Cardinals (22-6, 10-5).

Louisville next host Syracuse on Sunday, while UNC will visit Pittsburgh on Saturday.

SYRACUSE, NY – FEBRUARY 18: Head coach Rick Pitino of the Louisville Cardinals calls a play for his team against the Syracuse Orange during the second half at the Carrier Dome on February 18, 2015 in Syracuse, New York. Syracuse defeated Louisville 69-59. (Photo by Rich Barnes/Getty Images)

Carolina Panthers fullback Mike Tolbert recently experienced something unpleasant many people have at some point in their life: terrible service from a business.

Panthers’ Mike Tolbert Pays Car Shop $3,900 Entirely In Coins After Being Upset With Service

However, Tolbert decided to express his frustration with the business — a car shop in Charlotte named Motion Lab Tuning — in a very peculiar way: by paying the full bill of $3,900 entirely in coins, according to David Newton of ESPN.com.

The fullback claimed he was quoted a 10-day repair for the engine of his car being replaced, and a certain price, only to be charged a higher amount 2 1/2 months later, when the work still wasn’t completed. Thus, Tolbert decided to give the car shop a taste of their own medicine.

Tolbert called the business “crooks” in an Instagram post, and claimed the mechanic and the owner treated him differently for being a “millionaire.”

“They was upset,” Tolbert said. “If you had to count basically four grand in coins you’d be upset too, but they got what they asked for.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BK1fcKgh7E1/

Motion Lab Tuning fired back at Tolbert on Facebook, saying Tolbert wanted them to do the job for free and calling the fullback “a real scumbag that doesn’t want to pay his bills.”

Tolbert stated he initially tried to write a check, but the owner wouldn’t accept it.

“So what kind of respectable establishment won’t take a check?” Tolbert said. “They said they won’t take my check, it wasn’t going to clear the bank. I was like, ‘Whew! You’re throwing shots. So I’ve got one for you.’

He continued: “So I went to the bank and got $3,900 in coins. It was pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters … everything. I didn’t care one bit. I took a truck load of it and put it right there where he wanted it, and got my truck towed back to my buddy’s shop.”

The moral of this story seems quite clear: don’t try to rip off Mike Tolbert, or he’ll make you wait a long time as well by forcing you to count thousands of dollars in coins to make sure you were paid in full.

CHARLOTTE, NC – JANUARY 03: Mike Tolbert #35 of the Carolina Panthers is introduced during their game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Bank of America Stadium on January 3, 2016 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)