“Shut yo dumba** up”: LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal’s ex in splits over Gilbert Arenas’ ‘hostage’ Bronny James joke amid viral Ohio outing

Shaquille O’Neal’s ex, Shaunie Henderson, and LeBron James were in splits after Gilbert Arenas joked about taking James’ son, Bronny, as a hostage. James exercised his $52 million player option with the Lakers on Saturday. Shortly after, reports came out suggesting that he would reconsider his future in LA if he lacked faith in the team’s ability to contend next season.

This kicked off much speculation on X. Things got worse after LeBron James went golfing in Cleveland, Ohio, and uploaded a picture of himself wearing a ‘welcome home’ hat. Reacting to James’ golfing trip, Gilbert Arenas made a hilarious joke in an Instagram post on Friday, suggesting that he would take Bronny hostage to keep the King in LA.

“It’s been very very quiet on these free agent streets, and now you wanna show up, pop out in Ohio, on a golf course, with a welcome home hat on,” Arenas said. “One, nobody golfs in Ohio. … two, we’ve seen your swing, n**** you don’t golf, you play video games, you like Madden.”

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"We got your son, Bronny James ain't going anywhere," Arenas said. "Operation hold Bronny hostage until that n**** comes home."

LeBron James and Shaquille O'Neal's ex, Shaunie Henderson, reacted to Arenas’ hilarious joke by commenting on his Instagram post.

“Man shut yo dumbass up Gil!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣.” James wrote.

“😂😂😂😂.” Henderson wrote.

Gilbert Arenas criticized LeBron James for exercising $52 million player option

Ahead of the offseason, many expected LeBron James to take a pay cut, which would help the Lakers save cap space and acquire more pieces for a title-contending roster. However, James had no such plans and exercised his player option on Saturday.

While he got a big payday, it left the Lakers with limited options as they try to put more championship-level players next to him and Luka Doncic. Speaking on Wednesday's episode of his podcast, "Gil's Arena", Arenas criticized James' decision.

"There's $56 million you're worth," Arenas said. "You are a free agent. Meaning, you can go anywhere on the planet. You don't have to get traded to nowhere. You [James], right now, can sign for $5 million and go play with Cleveland. You can literally take the Mid-Level to go to OKC to win a ring."

Arenas questioned James' intent to win, saying that he could've taken a massive pay cut and signed with a contender if that was his No. 1 priority.

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Sameer Khan

Sameer is an esports and gaming journalist at Sportskeeda who covers a diverse range of topics. He is currently pursuing a BSc degree from BITS, but his love for video games pushed him to pursue a gaming journalism career. He relies on diligent research and fact-checking to deliver top-notch content. He has previously worked in the hospitality sector with the Oberoi Group.

Sameer’s gaming journey began with Rockstar Games’ GTA franchise, specifically
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. He strongly prefers multiplayer games, with FPS being his favorite genre, and has devoted 6K+ hours to CS:GO! However, he also dabbles in open-world, story-based games from time to time. Solo RPGs like Horizon Forbidden West hold a soft spot in his heart, and he would readily drop in it given a Jumanji-type scenario.

Sameer makes sure to follow Counter-Strike and Valorant esports tournaments, as he believes that watching a game being played at the highest level can be highly educational. He derives inspiration from Tarik's meteoric rise to become one of the biggest FPS streamers in the world following the release of Valorant.

Outside of work, you can find Sameer playing football or cheering for FC Barcelona. He also likes to read and write poetry.

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