“LeBron James Took It Personal”: 2 Years Before Winning the Title, Giannis Antetokounmpo’s ‘Crown’ Gesture Didn’t Go Well With ‘The King’

Whenever an NBA Fan thinks of King, only one image comes to mind: LeBron James. The Lakers superstar has been the King of basketball since his freshman year of high school. However, in 2019, two years before Giannis Antetokounmpo achieved the highest honor a player can, he challenged the authority of the King. While taking on the Lakers, Giannis imitated the ‘crown’ gesture. This didn’t go well for the Bucks superstar.

Back in 2019, Giannis went on a hot streak against the Lakers, making five three-pointers. The Greek Freak got swayed by his feelings and crowned himself on the court, while LeBron James was on the floor.

This did not bode well for the Bucks in the future.

LeBron James obliterated the Bucks in their next four meetings

I guess someone imitating the King in front of the King himself did not sit well. As the Michael Jordan meme goes, LeBron James took it personal. In his next four games against the Bucks, LeBron went 3-1 and averaged 31.5 points, 8.8 assists, and 6.8 rebounds.

For their first two matchups, Bron averaged 35.5 points, 8.0 assists, and 7.0 rebounds, on 54% from the field.

Since the gesture, LeBron has won a ring, and so has Giannis. However, late in 2022, almost three years after the whole gesture, Giannis cleared up his actions and shared what he meant.

Giannis Antetokounmpo meant no disrespect to LeBron

Traditionally, Giannis Antetokounmpo is not known as a perimeter guy. However, that day, Giannis was feeling good about his shot. He went 5 of 8 from the deep and finished the night with 34 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists.

In 2022, he sat down with Malika Andrews when she asked him about the gesture. Reflecting back on it, Giannis said,

“First of all, it was nothing against LeBron. That’s my last name. ‘Ante’ means crown.”

Giannis chose to honor his father on a night when he had one of his best performances from the deep. Sadly, people picked it up and added a different narrative to it. It did get us a few incredible LeBron performances though.