Despite being one of the only three billionaires to come out of the league, LeBron James has had a reputation for being “the cheapest basketball player”. If the word spread out by Dwyane Wade and Bronny James wasn’t enough, LBJ’s recent courtside appearance has put a stamp on this narrative. After a clip of the Lakers superstar watching an NBA game via a pirated stream went viral, fans had a field day on the internet, chuckling over the visuals.
Advertisement
Following an early exit from the season, recently, the King was spotted at the NBA Draft Combine. Due to his love for the game, he couldn’t afford to miss Game 2 between the Dallas Mavericks and the Minnesota Timberwolves in the WCF.
However, the platform on which he chose to watch the game raised some questions. Interestingly, a friend of LeBron, sitting next to him, pulled up ‘Stream East’, a popular illegal streaming website, on his laptop to watch the game. Fans were amused, as one pulled up D-Wade’s claim that LeBron was way too cheap for his wealth,
“Wade wasn’t lying about bron being cheap.”
Wade wasn’t lying about bron being cheap
— 𝓻𝓪𝓯 🐻〽🇧🇷 (@VinceGGCentral) May 25, 2024
Another fan wondered how expensive the League Pass might be in the US that even the superstar with a $1.2 billion net worth cannot afford it.
League Pass is very expensive, even for him 😂
— Cristiano Ronaldo News (@CRonaldoNews) May 25, 2024
It is a common belief that the most parsimonious end up with the most wealth. Seems like LeBron has taken that word a bit too seriously. One fan used the iconic Miami Heat LeBron meme to convey the message.
Bron when it’s time to save as much money as possible… pic.twitter.com/Tn3I191Pan
— God Ghost Writer 👁🗨 (@kingchudy) May 25, 2024
This opinion on LeBron James has not appeared out of thin air. His eldest son Bronny and his ex-teammate Dwyane Wade are two of the biggest peddlers of this narrative.
Bronny James and Wade have trolled LeBron James for being cheap
LBJ has had money to burn since he was 18 years old. A young star at the time, he signed a record-breaking deal with Nike worth a whopping $87 million in 2003. So, he’s been filthy rich for over 20 years, however, his money decisions have always been a little sketchy.
In a clip uploaded by ‘Deep Hoops’, D-Wade talked about his ex-teammate being cheap to the point where he avoided using his cellphone internet. He said,
“Oh, LeBron. He’s a good tipper, but he won’t use his cellphone without WiFi signals. This is no joke. He sends me a text before he leaves for the boat, because there won’t be no WiFi signal out there.”
Unfortunately for LeBron, Wade is not the only mole in his camp. Bronny has also put his father‘s notorious habit of saving money on blast in public.
During a Lakers game, LBJ was seen sitting on the bench with his snacks. It could have been his effort to stay healthy by eating homemade snacks, but the internet saw it as him being “cheap”. Bronny commented on the clip uploaded by ESPN, on Instagram, with two question marks and a crying face emoji. Thanks to the efforts of these two and the Draft Combine clip, the world now knows that even billionaires have such habits.