Kevin Durant Pulls a LeBron James, Tackles Fan Who Made Half-Court Shot

Making a half-court shot at an NBA game now earns you an automatic tackling from the team’s best player, apparently.

Oklahoma City Thunder fan Justin Dougherty swished a half-court shot at Sunday night’s Thunder-Trail Blazers game, and the results were somewhat awesome, somewhat awkward. 

Dougherty strummed the laces from long distance, a shot that earned him $20,000 in prize money. Obviously, a celebration spanning half of Chesapeake Energy Arena was in order, and the jubilant man took off to hug anyone and everyone who wandered into view.

Somewhere in between grabbing a woman (his girlfriend, according to BroBible.com) from the tunnel and running back onto the court, Dougherty made a decision—he needed him some Durant hugging, STAT. 

As you can see, Dougherty rushed back onto the court with his girlfriend, sees Durant across the floor and WHOOP—there goes the lady. Dougherty begins pleading for a hug, waving Durant in for the real thing. 

The Thunder's star obliges him, screwing on a smile and indulging the man in a forced reenactment of the now-famous LeBron James fan-tackle moment. 

As expected, the tackle-hug hybrid goes to the floor—the place both men knew this whole charade had to go in order for it to be official. 

The takedown is quick, thankfully, and no sooner do they hit the floor than Durant is trotting away from the situation with a less-than-excited “Did I really just do that?” look on his face. 

You cannot blame the fan for being caught up in the moment and wanting some love from an NBA star, but you can say the whole thing reeked of awkward plagiarism.