LeBron James has been mentioned in the YSL trial, in which rapper Young Thug and a number of other guys are charged with various offenses. The rapper’s use of his Young Slime Life record label as a front for gang activity is one of the case’s recurring themes.

Trontavious “Tick” Stephens, a member of YSL, testified in court regarding the matter after accepting a plea agreement in 2022. The videos haven’t stopped going viral, but during the second part of the week, something intriguing happened.

Lawyers questioned Stephens over a specific handshake in which four-time NBA champion LeBron James used the derogatory term “slime.” James has said the phrase more than once, once in the All-Star Game locker room with Ja Morant and once with a teammate.

“What do you remember LeBron James doing with each individual teammate that you described?” said the lawyer. “And tell the jury, did one of them include wiping nose, saying slime?”

The handshake that was mentioned in the YSL trial and the ones that LeBron James gives to his colleagues

LeBron James has earned plenty of attention throughout the years for his pregame routines with teammates. James has a long-standing custom of creating a special handshake for each teammate.

Videos of James showing off his unique style to his teammates keep popping up year after year, season after season. James was captured on camera shaking all of his teammates’ hands in the tunnel in December, just before the new year.

He began with a teammate waiting outside the door, then went to big man Jaxon Hayes, and then Max Christie. He shook hands with Christie, and thereafter they both placed a finger under their noses and said, “Slime.”

When the video first went viral, people were making jokes about specific handshakes and the custom in general. Even though it appeared to be lighthearted fun, the term “slime” is now being brought up in court.

Lawyers might be trying to demonstrate that the James video has no gang association by using it in conjunction with the popular usage of the “slime” moniker. The jury has not yet returned a verdict on day eighteen of the trial.

Because Young Thug’s music has been so well-liked, the NBA community has been monitoring the situation. In addition to players like LeBron and Ja Morant employing the “slime” expression, the artist’s music is commonly played in arenas during warmups.