‘Squid Game’ Creator Fires Back At LeBron James’ Criticism Of Show’s Ending

Hwang Dong-Hyuk has delivered an acerbic response regarding basketball player LeBron James’ disapproval on how Netflix’s biggest show, “Squid Game,” ended.

James expressed his distaste over the show's ending to pal Anthony Davis prior to a media interview after a Lakers’ game against the Warriors on Oct. 13.

“Yeah, I did finish it. Did you finish it? You watched it? You done? Yeah, I didn’t like the ending though. No, I know they started off with a season two but like, get on the f**king flight, go see your daughter, bro. Like, what are you doing?,” James could be heard saying in a clip shared on Twitter.

In the series, Seong Gi-Hun (played by Lee Jung-Jae), the main character and sole winner of the deadly games, forgoes his plans to fly to the U.S. to see his daughter and instead embarks on a mission to seek revenge on those who are responsible for the games.

In an interview with The Guardian published Tuesday, the “Squid Game” creator clapped back at James saying, “ LeBron James is cool and can say what he wants. I respect that. I’m very thankful he watched the whole series. 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,” Hwang said.

Sports Illustrated tweeted Hwang’s response to James’ criticism to which the 36-year-old player responded, “This can’t be real right??!! I hope not,” which he ended with laughing emojis.

The nine-episode “Squid Game” became Netflix’s most-watched show amassing 111 million views in just a month since it premiered on Sept. 17.

Hwang told The Guardian that the idea for the series was inspired by his family’s situation in 2009 when the global financial crisis hit South Korea.

“I was very financially straitened because my mother retired from the company she was working for. There was a film I was working on but we failed to get finance. So I couldn’t work for about a year. We had to take out loans - my mother, myself and my grandmother,” he told the outlet.