For nearly a decade, every Lakers trip to Philadelphia ended the same way: disappointment. But on a night when that familiar script finally changed, the loudest gasp in the arena wasn’t about basketball at all. As LeBron James mounted his strongest performance since returning from his sciatica setback, an unexpected on-court intruder briefly stole the spotlight—turning an already charged matchup into something far stranger.

Viewers enjoying LeBron James’ epic comeback from the end of his 18-year streak witnessed the weirdest interloper when the 76ers hosted the Lakers. Apart from scoring a massive 29 points, LeBron led the Lakers to a 112-108 win with Luka Doncic’s return.

Philly believes this will be the last time they host LeBron James too even though he’s not hinted about retiring. It was a matchup between Team USA teammates, Joel Embiid and LeBron James. Despite having a poor shooting night, Embiid and Bron battled at the rim and The Process managed to block his shot.

But no one’s talking about that or Bron’s insane dunk. They’re talking about a ‘spider.’

It was the eight-legged phantom that scuttled across screens nationwide, prompting a collective double-take from fans glued to their TVs. What appeared to be a rogue spider photobombing the drone feed, trailing King James like an overzealous mascot, turned out to be anything but a crawly catastrophe.

This “spider attack” was merely the Wells Fargo Center’s latest foray into high-flying tech: a drone camera, zipping overhead to capture those gravity-defying dunks and crossovers in crystalline detail.

Recall the Spurs’ bat saga, a recurring farce that’s as much Alamo City folklore as Gregg Popovich’s postgame rants.

In January 2024, during a Spurs-Timberwolves tilt, a bat dive-bombed the court just a minute in, prompting the Coyote mascot to don a full Batman getup, net in paw, and chase it down to the strains of the Caped Crusader theme—all while Manu Ginobili, the original bat-slayer from his infamous 2009 swat heard ’round the league, cheered from the stands.

It was visible to anyone watching the game on a screen. So social media did what it does best and reacted.

LeBron James’ ‘critter’ fan gives viewers a scare

The Sixers kept it close throughout the four quarters. The Lakers had a 108-105 lead in the fourth quarter, and James extended that lead by two more points. Only his little follower in that drive stole the show. Comments like, “LeBron makes dagger while avoiding spider attack 🗡️ 🕷️” proved they weren’t imagining that squiggly blur squirming across the screen.

“Can someone explain why it looks like there’s a massive spider chasing LeBron on this play,” the innocent demanded.

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That ‘spider’ that trailed LeBron James like his own eight-legged fan was actually a drone. Nobody ever noticed the Wells Fargo Center’s newest tech upgrade before this game. Maybe the Sixers organization wanted to pull out all stops in case this is the last time they host King James.

Not all, like this fan who commented, “That drone flying around the arena in Philly is really messing with my viewing experience. BK,” appreciated the distracting effort.

Others demanded the arena go old school because, “Someone take it down, I can’t focus on the game.” A few suggested extreme measures: “Someone needs to throw the ball at it.”

Most TVs thankfully survived any possible anti-arachnid retaliation the drone would’ve caused. People confirmed that the ‘spider’ on the screen caused a massive misunderstanding.

One said, “What the f— is with this drone? I thought it was a spider on my TV 😭” and another similarly added, “also need to know if the drone on the court is a normal thing for the sixers? cause time and time again i thought a spider was on my tv 😭.”

Spider followers aside, LeBron James was back to his double-digit antics since ending his longest double-digit scoring streak against the Raptors. He had missed the Celtics game due to arthritic issues, but had his best game of the season in Philadelphia. Something he’s never done since joining the Lakers.

This is the first time since December 7, 2017 (the exact date) that the Lakers have won in Philadelphia. It was also one of the best defensive showings by Joel Embiid, whose knees have slowed him down. It’s a good thing that ‘spider’ was on the floor to capture every moment of it up close.