LeBron James has had to apologise to a team mate after a furious row during the Cleveland Cavaliers latest win in the NBA.

And the game's No. 1 player admitted his outburst "didn't look good on TV".

The Cavs beat the Indiana Pacers in double overtime, with James and Tristan Thompson seen screaming at each other in a huddle.

James had sparked the conflict, yelling at his friend and team mate during the game to improve his defensive coverage.

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News.com reported: "It didn't look like a team about to make a run at another title. It looked like a group of players who were tired, dejected and frustrated."

James apologised publicly and privately.
"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.

"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 had a go at Thompson as they walked towards the bench, and waved coach Tyronn Lue away when he tried to intervene.

"I was a little bit too demonstrative at that point in the game," said superstar James.

"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."