Ex-Warriors Star Hits LeBron James With 06′ Playoffs Encounter on Lakers Star’s 39th Birthday

LeBron James recently celebrated his 39th birthday. For someone active in the league for over two decades, it’s obvious that a lot of people have their fav LeBron story. Athletes and fans have been using these unique stories to wish King James a very happy birthday. Gilbert Arenas took the opportunity to remind King James of their ’06 encounter.

Arenas posted a picture on X with a “Happy birthday, my guy 🤣” wish for LeBron. In the picture, Arenas can be seen gearing up to shoot free throws while LeBron employed his mind game on the NBA veteran. It was the game when Arenas was with the Washington Wizards and he was facing the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Gilbert Arenas runs back ’06 encounter with LeBron James

The Cavs were leading the series 3-2 and the Wizards were on the verge of forcing a game 7. The game went into overtime and the Wizards were leading with 113-112 with 15.1 seconds on the clock. A foul was called, and Arenas stepped in to shoot two free throws for his team. But before Arenas could get a ball in, LeBron stepped up to him and muttered something to the Wizards star. Arenas ended up missing both the free throws.

For some time, no one but Arenas and LeBron knew what was said at the time that potentially made him miss the two important shots. Former Washington Wizards big man Etan Thomas unveiled in 2020 what LeBron had said to Arenas. He wrote in an article, “LeBron took action. Gilbert had two free-throws to help seal Game 6 and level the best-of-seven series at 3-3. After he missed the first shot, LeBron strolled up to Gilbert and whispered in his ear, ‘If you miss these, you know who will end the game.” The Cavs won the game in OT and knocked out the Wizards from the series.

During an interview earlier this year with DJ Vlad, Arenas talked about the on-court encounter and how the Cavs ended up winning the game. He said, “Damon Jones hits the f***ing jumper. Like, you talking about, like, you know how sick your stomach feel. Like, out of all people on that f***ing team that you had to put in and not the goddamn tenant that I’ve been f***ing trolling for the last two years.”

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LeBron and his team surely left a sour taste in Arenas’s mouth at the time. However, it is good to see that the NBA veteran has moved past it and can even joke about the encounter, on LeBron’s birthday.

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