‘Squid Game’ Creator Disses LeBron James’ Criticism of Ending by Dunking on ‘Space Jam 2’

Jennifer Maas
·2 min read

The creator of “Squid Game” had a slam dunk of a response to “Squid Game” superfan LeBron James’ criticism of the Netflix series’ ending.

“Have you seen ‘Space Jam 2?’” Hwang Dong-hyuk said with laughter in an interview with The Guardian, poking fun at the plot of James’ sequel to the Michael Jordan classic. That response came after the reporter asked him to respond to James’ take on the conclusion to Hwang’s Netflix hit.

The Los Angeles Lakers star said during a press conference earlier this month: “Yeah, I did finish it. You finish it? You watched it? You done? Yeah, I didn’t like the ending though. I know they start it off with a Season 2, but, like, get on the f—ing flight and go see your daughter, bro. Like, what are you doing?”

The reference here is (spoiler alert!) to the “Squid Game” finale, when the protagonist decided not to go home to his daughter after he won the epic, fatal survival contest.

“LeBron James is cool and can say what he wants. I respect that. I’m very thankful he watched the whole series,” Hwang told The Guardian. “But I wouldn’t change my ending. That’s my ending. If he has his own ending that would satisfy him, maybe he could make his own sequel. I’ll check it out and maybe send him a message saying, ‘I liked your whole show, except the ending.’”

James happened to see Hwang’s remarks about his criticism and was clearly shocked, honored and a little worried. “This can’t be real right??!! I hope not,” he tweeted Tuesday night, along with several crying-while-laughing emojis.

With or without James’ full endorsement, “Squid Game” is an all-star for Netflix. According to the streaming service, the South Korean-produced thriller has been viewed by two-thirds of all Netflix households worldwide in the four weeks after its launch. “Squid Game” is Netflix’s first show to reach 100 million viewers within its premiere window, crushing the previous record set by mega-hit “Bridgerton.”

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