Brewery incurs James’ ire with photo

LeBron James is in a bit of a brouhaha over his beer-bottle grab.

On Monday night, James jokingly swiped a beer bottle from a surprised courtside server during the third quarter of the Cavaliers’ Eastern Conference semifinal playoff game against the Raptors and considered sipping it before handing it back. The exchange went viral on social media, and James even kidded afterward that he wasn’t much of a beer drinker and would have taken a sip if it had been red wine.

James now said his agent and legal team are upset over Great Lakes Brewing Company’s use of his image with the bottle.

On Tuesday, the brewery retweeted a photo of James holding its signature Dortmunder Gold beer with the caption: “G.O.A.T. with G.O.L.D.” The first set of initials stands for “greatest of all time.”

James told Cleveland.com that the brewery “is trying to benefit off of me.” He is also aware that the brewery produced and sold a bitter “Quitness” ale when he bolted the Cavaliers for the Heat as a free agent in 2010. A spokesperson for James declined to comment. A voicemail left with a spokeswoman for the brewery was not immediately returned.

Bryant helping Thomas: Celtics star Isaiah Thomas is getting some assists from Kobe Bryant.

Thomas, who has had some huge performances in the playoffs, said he has been talking and texting with Bryant to get tips from the former Lakers star. Thomas said after the Celtics went down 2-0 to the Bulls in their first-round Eastern Conference series, he emailed film to Bryant and the five-time NBA champion broke it down with him for 30 minutes over the phone.

Thomas said Bryant first reached out after Thomas’ sister died in a car accident and has stayed in touch to help with basketball. He said Bryant is mentally “on a different level” than anyone else because of the specifics of what he saw in the game film and suggestions on how to beat certain defenses.

Warriors take Game 1: Stephen Curry scored 22 points in three quarters of work and the top-seeded Warriors warmed up in a hurry after a weeklong layoff between playoff games, beating the Jazz 106-94 on Tuesday night in Oakland, Calif., in the opener of their Western Conference semifinals.

Draymond Green had 17 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two more blocks to bring his remarkable five-game playoff total to 19. Kevin Durant added 17 points, five rebounds and five assists for the Warriors.

Rudy Gobert had 13 points, eight rebounds and two blocks for the Jazz, who just finished off the Clippers in a seven-game first-round series Sunday.