“When They See the King Coming!”: LeBron James References J. Cole While Showing Off Highlights vs Cavaliers

In their latest adventure, the Los Angeles Lakers went past the Cleveland Cavaliers 116-97 thanks to 24 points, 12 assists, and 5 rebounds outburst by LeBron James. This was the fourth straight win for the Lakeshow and they have won 9 out of their last 10 games. After leading the Lakers to yet another memorable victory, LBJ celebrated the occasion through a J.Cole track.

On his Instagram, King James put up a story of his highlights against the Cavaliers with J. Cole’s Crocodile Tearz playing in the background. In the video, the Lakers forward pulled off various moves, including the behind-the-back dribble which led to an incredible inside finish. As James postures in celebration after the finish, the lyrics “The boys kiss ring when they see the king come in” can be heard.

However, King James, messing up the lyrics a little, fittingly captioned his story as “When they see the [king crown emoji] coming”. Then the track drops a “GOAT” reference as James dishes a sleek behind-the-back pass to D’Angelo Russell. As he dished the pass, the lyrics “Yes, sir, it’s me, not two, not three The uno, G-O-A-T, I need my fee, f**k kudos” played in the background. 

Then, in a set piece, LBJ finished a lob as Anthony Davis dished him the dime after a pass from Austin Reaves. “G4 at least, these flights ain’t cheap as you know. They sound faded, they downgraded, they Pluto” continue the lines. Was there any additional motif for James to post these lyrics or was he just playing around?

LeBron James posting around rap beef

As per Hip Hop Dx’s Sam Moore, Crocodile Tearz is seemingly a diss track on Atlanta rapper, Future. Meanwhile, in the larger picture, J. Cole’s ‘Might Delete Later’ mixtape seems to be a response to Kendrick Lamar and Drake. So, whose side is LBJ on? Well, the question is tricky considering that the Rap “Big Three” have been frequent collaborators. They make the diss tracks to keep the “beef” culture alive in the hip-hop world. However, Kendrick Lamar’s recent diss “Like That” has raised some eyebrows. 

He took shots at both Drake and J. Cole who collaborated for “First Person Shooter” in 2023. Before the recent game against the Brooklyn Nets, in the warmup, James was vibing to “Like That” which has the lyrics “Motherf**k the big three, ni**a, it’s just big me”. Social media exploded with reactions implying that 4x Finals MVP may not be vibing with Drake anymore. 

However, considering his nature, this might be another fun-fuelled LeBron James trip. The Lakers superstar is often subtle and just messes around for the sake of it. He does love being amid pop culture narratives.