LeBron James is taking a break from social media.
The Los Angeles Lakers superstar, who has 52.9 million followers on X (formerly Twitter), 159 million on Instagram, and 27 million on Facebook, revealed he is leaving social media for now because of the “negative takes” from national sports media personalities.
AMEN!! @richkleiman 🫡 pic.twitter.com/OZr9e1CVbY
— LeBron James (@KingJames) November 20, 2024
James initially shared a post from Rich Kleiman, Kevin Durant’s longtime agent and business partner, who called out sports media for their negative hot takes.
“With so much hate and negativity in the world today, it confuses me why some of National sports media still think that the best way to cover sports is through negative takes,” Kleiman posted.
“We can all acknowledge that sports is the last part of society that universally brings people together. So why can’t the coverage do the same? It’s only click bait when you say it. When the platform is so big, you can make the change and allow us all an escape from real-life negativity. I for one find it all a waste of breath. The Olympics and JJ and Bron’s show was the future of what this can and should all be.”
And with that said I’ll holla at y’all! Getting off social media for the time being. Y’all take care ✌🏾👑
— LeBron James (@KingJames) November 20, 2024
James responded to the post with an “AMEN!!” and then announced he will be shutting out the social media noise as well.
“And with that said I’ll holla at y’all! Getting off social media for the time being. Y’all take care,” James posted Wednesday afternoon on X.
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Where does LeBron James rank among social media followers?
James is one of the most popular athletes on social media globally.
The four-time NBA champion has 238.9 million social media followers total across Instagram, X, and Facebook, which ranks fifth in the world among athletes, according to Marketing4eCommerce.com.
James, unfortunately, has been in the crosshairs of sports-media personalities during his career, especially former “First Take” and “Undisputed” host Skip Bayless.
He was also told by Fox News personality Laura Ingraham to “shut up and dribble” after criticizing then-President Donald Trump in 2018.
'Shut up and dribble' — Fox News's Laura Ingraham to LeBron and Kevin Durant after their criticism of President Trump pic.twitter.com/0BlokQDIIl
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) February 16, 2018
With the Lakers’ 10-4 record and current third-place position in the Western Conference standings, James is putting the social media negativity to the side and concentrating on leading Los Angeles to their 18th NBA championship.
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