The Rihanna and LeBron James sunscreen incident explained: Why RiRi's beach picture with sunscreen went viral and what it had to with The King
Rihanna is an unabashed LeBron James fan. When the Cleveland Cavaliers took a 2-0 series lead against the Toronto Raptors in the 2016 playoffs, "RiRi" took her support to another level.
The Grammy-award winning artist posted a photo of herself wearing a red bikini on her Instagram account. On her stomach was the #23, the number James was using during his days with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
She wasn't going to shy away from who she intended to see the post as well. The "Umbrella" singer tagged James and captioned the photo, "mood."
What caused a sensation, aside from the sizzling hot photo, was the conspiracy supposedly behind Rihanna's decision to post her picture. At that time, she was dating rap superstar Drake, arguably the Toronto Raptors' biggest fan.
"RiRi's" IG post could have gotten LeBron James in trouble with wife Savannah James. Before the sunscreen photo, the "Good Girl Gone Bad" singer was rumored to have flown with James on his private jet.
Rihanna was also supposedly having an affair with the then Cleveland Cavaliers superstar, which only added fuel to the sunscreen photo.
Whatever the case may be, the Instagram post caused a social media storm that had some fans trolling LeBron James. Many were predicting a Game 3 loss as the four-time MVP might have to deal with off-the-court issues with his "Queen."
As if on cue, Drake's Toronto Raptors played their best game of the series in Game 3. They walloped the Cavaliers behind DeMar DeRozan's 32 points and Bismack Biyombo's 26 rebounds.
The resounding 99-84 loss only heightened rumors about what was going on behind the scenes with LeBron James and his wife. Cleveland played better in Game 4 but still lost as the Raptors leveled the series with a 105-99 victory.
Game 5, however, was almost like a statement win for James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. They left Toronto in the dust early on and drubbed them 116-76 while Rihanna watched from the sidelines.
Two nights later, the Cleveland Cavaliers booked a rematch with the 73-9 Golden State Warriors by eliminating the Toronto Raptors in Game 6. If the songwriter's motive was to distract LeBron James, it didn't end up very well for Drake's team.
Rihanna cheered for LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers against the Golden State Warriors
Not many gave the Cleveland Cavaliers a chance, even with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving in the lineup against the Golden State Warriors. Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green ran roughshod over the NBA during the 2015-16 season, losing just nine games in an 82-game schedule.
The 2016 NBA Finals looked over when the Warriors took an almost insurmountable 3-1 series lead. Golden State was the superior team in almost every aspect in the first four games of the series.
LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, however, refused to wilt. They kept coming at the Warriors until the Bay Area team eventually folded. Steph Curry would later admit that he had not seen a performance between two teammates the way James and Irving played.
Rihanna rubbed salt on the Warriors' humiliating collapse with another IG post a few hours after the Cavaliers' historic win:
"'Ballin bigger than LeBron' they said"