Days after a video was released of Cleveland Cavaliers player Stephen Curry apparently mocking former teammate LeBron James’s dancing style, Curry says he was not trying to make fun of James.
At the Web.com Ellie Mae Classic Golf Tournament August 2, reporters asked Curry about the viral video of him apparently mocking James. Curry said although he didn’t realize anyone was filming, the dance was good-natured and he was not making fun of his former teammate.
“If you look at it through the keyhole of just that 20 seconds, you don’t really understand what I was doing. Ever since he posted that first video, I’ve loved it because he made a song that maybe a lot of people wouldn’t have known pretty popular just by posting that video, so he’s got me doing that dance,” Curry told reporters, according to Yahoo News .
On June 15, James posted a video on Instagram where he danced to Tee Grizzley’s “First Day Out” during a workout session at the gym.
On June 30, former Cleveland Cavaliers player Brendan Haywood recorded Curry dancing and imitating James’s video at the wedding reception of Dallas Mavericks player Harrison Barnes, according to Mercury News . Cavaliers teammate Kyrie Irving was seen laughing raucously in the video as well. Haywood posted the video and captioned it with “shots fired at somebody,” and “#kingwontlikethis.” James’s Instagram handle and unofficial nickname is “King James.”
The video went viral, with many noting that Irving appeared to take delight in making fun of James. Reports in July indicated that Irving had requested that the Cavaliers trade him, allegedly because he didn’t want to play alongside James anymore , according to Yahoo Sports .
Curry insisted he was a genuine fan of the video. “I’ve been watching that video twice a day since it happened because it’s my favorite video in the entire world… I’ve been doing that dance because of him, at my house, at dinner,” he told The Athletic . “When something good happens, I pull that out, because I like it and it makes me laugh and it makes me happy.”
James has not yet responded to the video of Curry dancing.
[Featured Image by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images]