LeBron James is quite familiar with Crypto.com Arena.
Drake recently performed at the downtown L.A. arena and was accompanied by Lakers superstar LeBron James and his son, Bronny James. However, Drake did not choose them simply because of their star power. During the show, Drake revealed that LeBron has been a longtime supporter of his career since he was a fledgling hip-hop artist. In fact, LeBron supported Drake when he was trying to switch from acting to music during his days on TV’s “Degrassi: The Next Generation.” Drake referred to LeBron as his brother and expressed his gratitude for his continued support throughout the years.
In the world of sports, there is excitement among fans as the Los Angeles Lakers plan to retire the jersey of LeBron James. However, it remains to be seen whether they will retire his No. 23 jersey or No. 6, or both. Jeanie Buss, the Lakers governor, has confirmed that James’ jersey will be retired when he is inducted into the Hall of Fame, but the question of which number hangs in the air. The Lakers have a precedent for retiring multiple numbers for a player, as they did for Kobe Bryant. Fans eagerly await the decision on how the Lakers will honor James’ illustrious career.
On July 28, 2023, the audience inside the arena was ecstatic when James, who had been a part of the Lakers for the past five seasons, made an appearance. James had played a crucial role in leading the Lakers to an NBA championship in 2020 and back to the Western Conference finals in the previous season. The arena is also where James surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer on Feb. 8. Drake also took the stage and spoke about how James had supported him during his early days in the music industry. Drake reminisced about James attending his mixtape release party in Toronto, Canada, when nobody believed in his music career. Drake expressed his gratitude towards James for being present at that time and mentioned that it was an honor to be in the same building as him after several years. Drake promised to give his best performance to do justice to the building and the audience.
It’s no secret that James and Drake are buddies and often hang out together, even posting about each other on social media. Recently, James’ teenage son Bryce, who is a junior at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame High School, was spotted at one of Drake’s concerts at the Forum.
Bronny James made a public appearance almost a month after experiencing a cardiac arrest while working out with the Trojans on July 24. His father, LeBron James, supported him by putting his arm around him as they walked and even placed his hand on Bronny’s shoulder at times as they navigated through the crowd behind a well-known rapper. Drake, the superstar rapper, gave both Bronny and LeBron a warm embrace before taking the stage, which was met with applause from the audience. The father and son duo enjoyed the show from front-and-center VIP seats.