LeBron James has decided he’s going dark – on social media at least.
The NBA’s all-time leading scorer and Los Angeles Lakers star posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram on Wednesday to announce that he’s quitting social media.
‘And with that said I’ll holla at y’all! Getting off social media for the time being. Y’all take care,’ he added in another post in which he included a peace sign and crown emoji.
James posted the farewell to his 159 million followers on Instagram and 52.9 million on X in response to a post from Rich Kleinman, Kevin Durant’s longtime manager.
He shared a screenshot of a lengthy X post from the NBA agent written on October 24, slamming the negativity in sports coverage.
‘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,’ Kleiman wrote at the time.
LeBron James announced that he was quitting social media in a post Wednesday
James posted the farewell to his 159 million followers on Instagram and 52.9 million on X
‘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 [Redick] and Bron’s show was the future of what this can and should all be.’
‘AMEN!!’ James posted, along with a salute emoji.
Just minutes later, he posted his bizarre goodbye to social media, which also came one day after he said ‘everybody on the Internet called me a liar all the time.’
James’s social media exit also comes just two weeks after vice president Kamala Harris, who the NBA icon had publicly endorsed, lost out to Donald Trump at the ballot boxes.
In the lead-up the election, the basketball legend received a major backlash when he endorsed the Democratic nominee by sharing a controversial anti-Trump video.
And after the Republican’s victory, LeBron took to Instagram to send a message to 10-year-old daughter Zhuri Nova.
‘HEAVY ON MY HEART & MIND THIS AM MY PRINCESS,’ he wrote alongside a photo of him holding his young girl.
‘PROMISE TO PROTECT YOU WITH EVERYTHING I HAVE AND MORE!! WE DONT NEED THEIR HELP!’
The NBA legend’s exit came after he reported a post from NBA agent Rich Kleiman
James’s post also comes just two weeks after vice president Kamala Harris, who the NBA icon had publicly endorsed, lost out to Donald Trump at the ballot boxes
Earlier this week, the Lakers icon said ‘everybody on the Internet called me a liar all the time’
The topic of abortion proved a major talking point in the election, with Trump drawing criticism over his previous claim to have ‘killed’ Roe vs Wade – a Supreme Court ruling which protected the rights to abortion.
Yet the controversy surrounding his stance on abortion rights was not enough for the majority of voters to side with Harris in the end.
LeBron urged people to go out and vote for the Democrats after posting a clip which appeared to show several members of Trump’s party using offensive and violent rhetoric.
He captioned the post: ‘What are we even talking about here?? When I think about my kids and my family and how they will grow up, the choice is clear to me. VOTE KAMALA HARRIS!!!’
Meanwhile, James, who will celebrate his 40th birthday next month, isn’t the only sports figure to quit social media in recent weeks.
Shortly before his online exit, the Atlanta Falcons’ social media team announced they, too, were taking a break to ‘take care of our mentals, rest up, and get ready for what we expect to be an exciting finish.’
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