5 times LeBron James seemingly told blatant lies in the media: “I was listening to [Migos] my first year with the Heat in 2010”
Following Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, LA Lakers superstar LeBron James decided to honor recently deceased hip-hop star Takeoff from Migos.
James’ tribute included dressing up in Takeoff’s iconic suit, shades and chain outfit prior to tip-off. He wore the outfit after the game as well and answered some questions from reporters about what Takeoff meant to him.
James noted that he has been a Migos fan since his first year with the Miami Heat back in 2010. However, many fans later pointed out that Migos began producing music only in 2011.
"I was listening to those guys my first year with the Heat in 2010. You can ask any one of my teammates back then, they had no idea who the Migos was… I was like 'I'm telling you these guys are next,'" James said.
This has since prompted fans to dig up some other clips of James seemingly lying. On that note, here are five other times LeBron James seemed to come up with blatant lies in the media.
#5 LeBron James says he almost predicted Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game
LA Lakers legend Kobe Bryant famously scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors on January 22, 2006. The iconic performance marked the highest points total of any NBA player in the modern era, a record that has still not been broken to this day.
Nobody could have predicted that Bryant would set the record on a specific day, yet that is exactly what LeBron James claimed he almost did. In a dug-up interview, a young James explained how he had said that Bryant was going to score 70 the night he recorded 81 points.
“I watched the whole game, I seen the whole game. I was at home watching the game. Before the game even started, I said he was going to score 70. I don’t know what made me say that. I am a fan of the game. So, to see that performance was unbelievable,” James said.
It's difficult to see how anyone could come up with such a prediction. However, with no way of proving whether James was right or wrong, it is up to the fans to decide if he was telling the truth.
#4 James makes up his biggest takeaway from Malcolm X autobiography
A couple of years ago, LeBron James posted a picture of himself reading “The Autobiography Of Malcolm X.”
He later brought the book to an interview, which prompted reporters to ask him about his biggest takeaways from the book. James provided a very vague and generic answer, which made fans very skeptical about whether he had actually read any of it.
“I kinda just started a couple days ago. I’ve read a lot of notes over the years. It’s my first time actually reading it start to finish. Just a very smart man,” James said.
“And basically his words in the 60s and what was going and is actually what’s going on today still. Him understanding how powerful the negro can be.
“How powerful we are if we unite, be together, stand strong cause there is always going to be obstacles. Things are going to be thrown at us to weaken us. ..... Very powerful minded gentleman.”
#3 James pretends a saying he just heard is his favorite saying
During a recent appearance on James’ show, "The Shop," Manchester United and England footballer Marcus Rashford told a story about one of his former coaches.
“I had one coach and he used to say ‘Put yourself in situations where you’re not comfortable,’” Rashford said.
James then immediately jumped in and claimed that it was his favorite saying.
“That’s my favorite saying. That’s my favorite saying,” James said.
This led many fans to question the unlikeliness of that actually being James’ favorite saying. Meanwhile, others simply pointed out how unnecessary it was for James to even make the claim in the first place.
#2 LeBron James pretends to be a football fan
There was also the time when LeBron James pretended to be up to date with English football.
James is a 2.0% owner of Liverpool Football Club, one of the biggest clubs in England. Several years ago, he was interviewed by the club's former player, Peter Crouch, and Maya Jama about the team’s success.
James’ answer, particularly in regards to whether he had seen current skipper Jordan Henderson’s first goal, had Liverpool fans scratching their heads. Many even questioned if he had even watched any games.
“I read about the franchise and how amazing it is, I actually made a trip over to Liverpool as well and seen all the sights and the arena, it was pretty unique,” James said.
“I saw he [Jordan Henderson] was able to score one in the match the other day and I thought that was pretty unique, the fact he would do that and will also be with Liverpool Football Club.”
#1 James can’t quote any lines from his favorite movie “The Godfather”
Finally, in 2016 LeBron James said that he had watched “The Godfather” series at least six times during that year's NBA Playoffs.
This prompted a reporter to later ask the then Cleveland Cavaliers star about his favorite quote from the movie. However, James could not even name one as he said there were too many to choose from, while adding that the movies were way too long.
“There’s too many different phrases, too many different lines in that movie to categorize one. … Each movie is nine hours long, what do you want me to do? I’ll let you pick one and I’ll role with it,” James said.
It doesn’t get much more questionable than that. So, naturally, fans had a lot of fun with that lie.
For more on James' recent tribute to Takeoff, click here.
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