Nearly one year to the date that he publicly requested to appear on New Heights, LeBron James finally joined Jason and Travis Kelce’s podcast.
And in doing so, the four-time NBA MVP revealed to the All-Pro brothers and fellow Northeast Ohio natives that he’s well aware of a viral social media post regarding his age.
The post in question was originally made on X — then called Twitter — in 2015, just months after James had turned 30. At that point, the Akron, Ohio, native was in the midst of the 12th season of his NBA career and still at the top of his game, prompting a Golden State Warriors fan with the handle @urkle91 to state, “Lebron is 30, this fuckery won’t go on for much longer, thank god.”
Lebron is 30, this fuckery won’t go on for much longer, thank god
— POA (@urkle91) May 25, 2015
As it turned out, “this fuckery” didn’t just continue, but in some cases, it intensified, with James proceeding to win two more NBA titles while making nine more All-NBA teams over the course of the ensuing decade. During his appearance on New Heights, the now-Los Angeles Lakers revealed that he was well aware of the post, which he said he used as a source of both motivation and humor.
“I saw that tweet throughout all of my 30s,” James said. “And I laughed at it so hard every single time.”
We had to ask @KingJames about one of the greatest tweets in NBA history
NEW EPISODE OUT NOW: https://t.co/CFlnyVLKJt pic.twitter.com/vFBQvIVyf7
— New Heights (@newheightshow) January 15, 2025
Just weeks removed from turning 40, James proceeded to pay homage to @urkle91 for following up with a different version of the same post a full decade later.
“You wanna know what’s funny? When I turned 40, the same fucking guy said, ‘LeBron turned 40, this fuckery won’t go on much longer,” James said.
Lebron is 40, this fuckery won’t go on for much longer, thank god https://t.co/hq9rbcrNgR
— POA (@urkle91) December 30, 2024
“He’s gonna be real upset when I turn 50,” the 20-time NBA All-Star joked.
At least, we think he was joking.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.