Devin Booker appears to fire back at Bogdan Bogdanovic over Carmelo Anthony celebration

The testy moment in USA Basketball’s win against Serbia in the Paris Olympics semifinals on Thursday started with a gesture. Serbian guard Bogdan Bogdanovic nailed a three and pounded the side of his head with former USA great Carmelo Anthony’s signature motion as Anthony and his son sat courtside.

Bogdan Bogdanovic'ten üçlük sonrası tribündeki Carmelo Anthony'e saygı ve LeBron James öfkeli. pic.twitter.com/flvcpS6eK6

— Nals (@nalsizm) August 9, 2024

It appeared to irk LeBron James moments later as the teams went to their bench. James came out of the break and nailed a three, soon after backing down Bogdanovic and scoring over him before doing a too-small celebration.

Feelings of disrespect lingered after the Americans pulled out a stunning fourth-quarter rally to win it. Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker took it to his Instagram story later, posting a picture of his own Melo gesture with a caption of “respect the legends.”

Bogdanovic scored 20 points to lead Serbia in the 95-91 loss on Thursday and played with a fire that carried into the postgame handshake line, where he dapped up the Americans with a frown after taking the loss. He directed complaints at the referees following the game.

Bogdanovic has history against Anthony at Olympic level. Serbia got blown out by a squad led by Kevin Durant and Anthony in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

And fun fact for those who might have forgotten: Bogdanovic, who currently plays for the Atlanta Hawks, was a Suns draft pick in 2014.

Phoenix held his rights even through selecting Booker in 2015. But in 2016, the Suns traded Bogdanovic’s rights to the Sacramento Kings in order to acquire a draft pick to land forward Marquese Chriss.

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