LeBron James’ prank on Draymond Green nearly spirals out of control over a fake $100 million deal

A prank with a very expensive setup

LeBron James may be edging toward the next chapter of his life, but he is apparently not done with elaborate mischief. Between golf outings and television appearances, James joined forces with Rich Paul and Anthony Davis for a new TBS project and helped set up a prank that came much closer to disaster than anyone likely intended.

The target was Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green on Foul Play with Anthony Davis, a new show that put Green in the middle of a fake business pitch involving a supposed $100 million investment.

With James and Davis watching from behind the scenes, the stunt began like a standard absurd celebrity prank. It then did what many standard absurd celebrity pranks do not do, which is invite an actual threat of violence.

Draymond Green was not amused

Green was asked to put $100 million into a business deal and immediately made it clear that the number was laughable.

“I was never gonna send you all $100 million. $100 million cash? Absolutely not. Who is just sitting on a $100 million cash?” he said.

The actors involved in the setup then pushed back, claiming that other investors had that kind of money. That was apparently the point where the temperature in the room started climbing.

Green did not take kindly to the shouting and fired back with a warning that suggested the bit was no longer landing as intended.

“Number one, y’all should stop yelling. I’m a grown-ass man. I’m going to leave here. Because I will f*** you up. For sure,” he said.

James and Davis kept watching the exchange on a monitor and, for a moment, seemed to be enjoying the chaos from a safe distance. But when Green threatened to punch one of the actors in the nose, the joke had reached the stage where someone had to step in before it became an actual problem.

The reveal came just in time

At that point, James and Davis intervened and told Green the whole thing was a prank. Considering how quickly the exchange escalated, that timing probably saved everybody a trip into the kind of awkwardness that no postgame interview can smooth over.

Fortunately, Green took it well once the curtain was pulled back. He hugged his fellow NBA peers and admitted he had been played.

For a prank built around a fake nine-figure investment, the show managed to get a real reaction out of one of the league’s most famously intense personalities. Mission accomplished, more or less, if the mission was to make everyone on set slightly nervous.