{"id":166076,"date":"2025-06-28T20:28:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-28T20:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/166076\/"},"modified":"2025-06-28T20:28:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-28T20:28:10","slug":"sauce-gardner-opens-up-on-how-lebron-helped-him-meet-ice-spice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/166076\/","title":{"rendered":"Sauce Gardner opens up on how LeBron helped him meet Ice Spice"},"content":{"rendered":"

LeBron James, even if unintentionally, helped play the role of matchmaker for Sauce Gardner\u2019s rumored relationship with rapper Ice Spice, the Jets cornerback told TMZ<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Gardner appeared on an April 2024 episode of \u201cThe Shop\u201d \u2014 a podcast featuring James \u2014 alongside rapper Travis Scott, former NFL wideout Chad Ochocinco and star Mariners outfielder Julio Rodriguez, and Gardner told the outlet he believes that\u2019s when the couple met in person for the first time.<\/p>\n

They seemingly became Instagram official just over one year later<\/a> in a post shared by Ice Spice with her and Gardner posing in front of a bathroom mirror.<\/p>\n

Ice Spice and Sauce Gardner are pictured at the Knicks\u2019 game May 16. AP<\/p>\n

While Gardner told TMZ that he wasn\u2019t \u201ctrying to speak too much on it\u201d when approached in Los Angeles, he did acknowledge that he and the rapper are \u201ccool\u201d \u2014 and proceeded to reveal a bit about their relationship.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just be having a good time,\u201d Gardner told the outlet. \u201cTwo young individuals, you know. She from New York. I play in New York. She talented, real talented, when it come to what she do. Same thing for me. Two people that get hated on that\u2019s really good at what we do, so we got a lot in common. We cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

LeBron James is pictured at Fanatics Fest on June 21. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Before Ice Spice\u2019s post, the duo had been spotted out in public on different occasions, and Gardner appeared to tease the relationship earlier in April by sharing a photo on Instagram<\/a> that showed them standing next to a car in New York City.<\/p>\n

When they attended a Knicks playoff game at the Garden in May, they received a loud ovation from fans in attendance as they watched the Knicks close out their second-round series against the Celtics.<\/p>\n

Gardner, 24, will enter the 2025 campaign off a rough season and is entering the last year of his rookie deal, but he still attended the Jets\u2019 mandatory minicamp<\/a> instead of holding out, getting fined and attempting to make a contract statement.<\/p>\n

Sauce Gardner addresses reporters during a June 12 press conference. Bill Kostroun\/New York Post<\/p>\n

\u201cI just wanted to show my teammates and the coaches how much I\u2019m bought into this,\u201d Gardner told reporters on June 12. \u201cI want to win. I want to be a part of changing the organization.\u201d<\/p>\n

He earned consecutive First-Team All-Pro appearances in his first two NFL seasons \u2014 as well as winning Defensive Rookie of the Year and securing a pair of Pro Bowl spots \u2014 but failed to even make the Pro Bowl last year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LeBron James, even if unintentionally, helped play the role of matchmaker for Sauce Gardner\u2019s rumored relationship with rapper…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":166077,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2051],"tags":[5561,6586,7,226,10317,3512,155,1917,255,2321,2097,6,9,10],"class_list":{"0":"post-166076","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-jets","8":"tag-ahmad-sauce-gardner","9":"tag-celebrity-couples","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-jets","12":"tag-lebron-james","13":"tag-los-angeles-lakers","14":"tag-nba","15":"tag-new-york","16":"tag-new-york-jets","17":"tag-newyork","18":"tag-newyorkjets","19":"tag-nfl","20":"tag-sports","21":"tag-sports-entertainment"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114762882080147762","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166076"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166076\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}