19 April 2023 , 19:44
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NBA star Desmond Bane broke an unwritten rule concerning the legendary LeBron James.
The Memphis Grizzlies player is competing against the four-time NBA champion and LA Lakers star in round one of the NBA Play-Offs. The California side took the opening game of the series and the second seeded team will aim to level proceedings in Game Two on Wednesday night. But an interesting sub-plot concerns Bane, who shares some history with the 38-year-old.
It goes back more than a year, to the Grizzlies win over the Lakers in January 2022, when Bane was given a stuff rebuke from James for "talking s---."
The 24-year-old was quick to snap back at the iconic figure in gold and purple, to which James yelled: “That's your last time. That's your last motherf---ing time. That's your last time disrespecting me."
To exacerbate matters, when Bane and the Grizzlies played against the 19-time All Star and his Lakers team in January of this year, he wore the LeBron XX, the most recent edition of James' series of signature shoes.
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Footwear is huge part of the NBA culture, and it's an unwritten rule that players don't wear the signature shoe of an opponent in a game featuring the star. In January earlier this year, James spotted Bane's sneakers. But the 24-year-old Grizzlies man has an excuse - a problematic toe injury that has seen him rolling through various Nike shoes, including those of Paul George and James.
After the game it was an interesting topic of conversation - with the dispute very much in the past. "He asked me if I had enough of 'em," Bane said, "if I needed any more. I felt like it was love, for sure. We moved on. I think we separated and settled our differences."
Bane scored 22 points in the Grizzlies defeat to the Lakers this past weekend (Justin Ford/Getty Images))After the Lakers' Game One win, James confirmed that his offer to assist Bane was indeed genuine.
"Respect. Respect," James told ESPN. "I joked about it a few years ago, like, if a guy's wearing my sneakers I'm going to have to bust your ass and s---. Like, I'm not even in that type of energy no more, that type of space. I just think that's super dope. And I got to send some more to him now. I got to make sure he's a LeBron athlete now."
The Lakers take on Bane's Grizzlies in Memphis looking to double their lead in the best-of-seven series before the first round encounter moves to Los Angeles. A win on Wednesday will give James the chance of a stunning 4-0 sweep over the second seeds.