LeBron James has apologized after an Instagram post that mentioned Jewish money.
The Los Angeles Lakers star regularly posts song lyrics to his Instagram account, and on Saturday, he quoted 21 Savage’s asmr, which included the music.
Business reporter Darren Rovell noticed the post and lyrics, which brought up an old stereotype surrounding Jews and materialism. James apologized for the post after his team’s game against the Memphis Grizzles on Sunday night.
“Sure, sorry, if I offended anyone,” James told ESPN. More so, why did I choose to share those lyrics. I always [send lyrics]. That’s what I do. I sit in the car, I listen to great music, and that’s a byproduct of it. So I really think that’s a compliment, and obviously it’s not through a lot of people’s lenses. My apologies. Obviously it wasn’t the intention to hurt anyone. He added that he thought the lyrics were a tribute to the strength of the Jewish community.
James is not expected to be fined by the NBA for the post but it was an embarrassing incident for someone who has been a prominent voice on social issues. On Friday’s broadcast of his HBO discussion show, The Shop, he attacked the NFL ownership group. “In the NFL they have a group of older white men who own the teams and they have that slave mentality,” James said. “And the more it’s like, ‘This is my team. You do what I told y’all to do. Or we get rid of y’all.