LeBron James and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are undoubtedly two of the most famous professional athletes in the world. When it comes to basketball, few can deny James’ impact on the game, which has led to him being considered the greatest player of all time. Likewise, Ibrahimovic is considered one of the greatest football players in history.
However, Ibrahimovic doesn’t like LeBron James’ decision to mail his jersey. This move by James was a gesture from one great man to another great man. However, instead of sending James a jersey in return, Zlatan did something very on-brand.
He signed LeBron James’ jersey and then mailed it back to the NBA star, prompting a hilarious response from comedian Andrew Schultz. When Schultz met Zlatan Ibrahimovic at last weekend’s UFC 294 event in Abu Dhabi, the footballer recalled how Schultz felt about his decision to sign James’ jersey funny.
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in his latest episode ‘flagrant’ In the podcast, Schultz talked about the run-in:
“He said, ‘You like that jersey, don’t you?’ I said ‘Of course! “I was like, ‘Man, I love it,'” he said. “If he comes to me with a jersey, which obviously I’m not going to do, I give him a jersey and we train, but instead of mailing me the jersey in person, , who does he think he is? “Yeah?'”
A look back at past disagreements between LeBron James and Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Although Ibrahimovic was willing to personally swap jerseys with LeBron James, the two had previously feuded. LeBron James has been an ardent supporter of social justice movements for years.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has previously named Muhammad Ali as his favorite athlete because of what he does on and off the field. Still, he doesn’t like athletes getting involved in politics.
A few years ago, he criticized James for frequently speaking out on political issues and social justice issues. As he explained at the Sanremo Festival press conference:
“Athletes unite the world, politics divide the world. Our role is to unite the world by doing what we do best. Athletes should be athletes and politicians should do politics.”
The comments didn’t sit well with James, who was quick to fire back in defense of his activism. As he told the media at the time:
“I will never shut up about something that is wrong. I preach about my people, I preach about equality, social justice, racism, voter suppression — things that are happening in our communities.”
As of now, it’s unclear whether the two athletes have spoken privately about the disagreement. Judging from Ibrahimovic’s latest remarks, in addition to the jersey exchange, the legendary football player seems willing to resolve his differences with James.