New testimony in Lil Durk’s federal murder-for-hire trial is putting NBA YoungBoy’s name directly into the courtroom, after prosecutors presented messages allegedly showing Durk comparing his own crew’s response to King Von’s death with how YoungBoy’s circle might have reacted.

During the second week of the trial, OTF Vonni took the stand as text messages allegedly exchanged between Durk and members of Only the Family were shown to jurors.

The messages reportedly centered on Durk’s frustration over what he believed was a lack of urgency from people around him following Von’s fatal shooting in Atlanta in November 2020.

At one point, Durk allegedly brought up NBA YoungBoy while criticizing his crew.

“Let it be YB and nem,” Durk allegedly wrote in one message presented in court.

When asked to clarify who “YB” referred to, Durk allegedly responded: “NBA YoungBoy.”

According to testimony, the messages appeared to show Durk questioning why individuals connected to the situation surrounding Von’s death were still moving freely.

In one exchange, Durk allegedly wrote that someone was “out every night” despite his crew reportedly having information about that person’s location.

The message continued with Durk allegedly complaining that people in Atlanta thought his side was “sweet.”

Prosecutors are using the messages as part of their argument that Durk was pushing members of his circle to retaliate after Von was killed.

Durk has denied orchestrating any murder-for-hire plot and has pleaded not guilty.

NBA YoungBoy has long been linked to the broader tension surrounding Durk, King Von and Quando Rondo.

The exact origins of Durk and YoungBoy’s reported feud have never been completely clear, but tensions between their camps became far more public following Von’s death.

King Von was fatally shot during a confrontation outside an Atlanta nightclub in November 2020 after a fight broke out involving members of Quando Rondo’s group.

Timothy “Lul Timm” Leeks, an associate of Rondo, was initially charged with murder in connection with Von’s death. That charge was later dropped.

Quando Rondo has also been affiliated with NBA YoungBoy’s Never Broke Again collective, which helped turn an already tense situation into one of the most closely watched conflicts in hip-hop.

Federal prosecutors are attempting to establish that Durk’s frustration eventually escalated into an alleged effort to have Quando Rondo killed.

The government claims members of Durk’s OTF circle traveled to Los Angeles in 2022 and followed Rondo before gunmen opened fire on his vehicle at a West Hollywood-area gas station.

Rondo survived the attack, but his cousin, Saviay’a Robinson, was killed.

Durk’s attorneys have rejected the government’s theory and argued that cooperating witnesses are attempting to shift responsibility onto the rapper in exchange for favorable treatment in their own cases.

The newly revealed messages are now giving jurors another look at the atmosphere surrounding OTF in the period after King Von’s death.

The NBA YoungBoy reference is one of several pieces of evidence prosecutors have introduced while attempting to show Durk’s alleged state of mind following Von’s killing.

Multiple former associates have taken the stand, with testimony focusing on internal conversations, travel, alleged surveillance of Quando Rondo and what prosecutors describe as an escalating push for revenge.

Durk’s defense is expected to continue challenging the credibility of those witnesses and the meaning prosecutors are assigning to the messages.

Durk remains presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.