Gucci Mane Finally Meets His NBA Referee Twin James Williams

Gucci Mane finally linked up with his “twin," NBA referee James Williams. 

On Tuesday, Guwop posted pics from a Miami Heat playoff game, posing with the NBA ref who went viral for being his lookalike. If they weren’t wearing two completely different outfits, it’d be almost impossible to tell them apart. 

The excitement in Williams’ face is heartwarming because everyone tells him how much he looks like the Atlanta rapper. Back in 2023, Williams opened up on The Crown Refs Podcast about the fact that people usually refer to him as “Guwop” or “Gucci” whenever he’s on the court during a game. 

“I am Gucci Mane, at this point that’s who I am,” said Williams. “I’m actually shocked when somebody on the floor calls me James … everybody calls me Gucci or Guwop. I’ve really just embraced it.”

Williams also revealed that the comparison isn’t offensive to him, and actually makes his job as a referee fun. 

“It humanizes us, referees who are just cops out there, I’m not a big fan of because that’s not how I referee,” he explained. “I go out there, I like to have fun. Engage the players, the fans, the coaches. While we have a job to do, you should still have fun while you’re doing it.”

Ja Morant even got in on the fun with Williams’ looking just like Gucci Mane, even taking the time to repost a photo with Williams and caption it “Me & Gucci.”

“Once that thing went viral, my life has been completely altered forever,” he explained. “The other day I was (at the airport) and there was a basketball team walking through and they’re like ‘That’s the Gucci Mane ref!’ and ‘Can we get a picture?'”

Williams has been refereeing in the NBA for the past 13 seasons. He's known for being fun-loving and personable — so much so that Kevin Durant apologized to him back in 2018 after snapping on him once he got ejected.