LeBron James once said that he became friends with Drake in 2007. After that, every year brought them closer. Two worlds, one: basketball, and two: music, merged as the giants met on stage at a concert in Los Angeles in 2018. But then things took an odd turn last year, when the Kendrick Lamar-Drake drama erupted and Bron (maybe) picked a side.

Drake and Kendrick’s feud turned into a cultural storm, giving Lamar Grammys and a Super Bowl halftime show that echoed beyond music. Athletes like Bron, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant found themselves caught in the ripple. While Curry and Durant stayed quiet, LeBron showed his colors. He cheered for both but leaned toward Kendrick, craving every verse like a fan starving for more.

Turns out, the 40-year-old Los Angeles Lakers’ heartbeat upset his rapper best friend. However, a year later, when Bron appeared on Speedy Morman’s show, he had nothing but kind words for his old friend.

“Y’all cool? What’s the status there? Is this someone you always have love for?” Morman asked curiously. “Always, always wish him the best,” LeBron James confessed. “Obviously, different places right now, currently he’s doing his thing, I’m doing mine, but it’s always love for sure.”

Back in February, Drake turned heads when he rewrote a piece of his own history. While performing Nonstop, the Scorpion classic, he scrubbed away LeBron’s mention and replaced it with distance. The message was loud enough. He has repeated this move in other shows, reminding everyone that even old lyrics can spark new stories when delivered on stage.

Then July arrived, and Drake covered his LeBron James tattoo with fresh ink for Shai Gilgeous Alexander, his fellow Canadian star. It felt like a statement. LeBron quickly fired back in his own way, belting Not Like Us with powerful company. He even stood next to Pusha T, Drake’s long-time rival, in a Tyler, The Creator’s Stop Playing With Me song video from his latest album, Don’t Tap The Glass.

But why and how did things turn so harsh? Well, we need to rewind a bit. Not much, but just enough, to April 2024. Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s beef went feral among music lovers. However, LeBron James stayed neutral until he wasn’t.

LeBron James and Drake’s relationship turned bitter after the Not Like Us drama

LeBron James has always celebrated music like it was a sport itself. When the tension first sparked between Drake and Kendrick, he cheered both sides. His owl tweet filled with fire emojis made that clear. “Nothing like 2 heavyweights doing What They Do Best! For the love off of the sport,” he wrote. At that point, the battle was only beginning.

In May 2024, Kendrick’s Meet the Grahams dropped with a direct warning: “Ayy, LeBron, keep the family away, hey, Curry, keep the family away.” That line stung. It cast Bron into the spotlight, urging distance from Drake. With the weight of such allegations, it became easier to understand why LeBron leaned back cautiously.

Then, in June, Bron appeared at Kendrick’s The Pop Out concert, moving to the beats as Russell Westbrook danced beside him. Fans noticed. Drake surely noticed, too. The story deepened again in January 2025, when Drake’s Fighting Irish Freestyle hinted at LeBron’s high school legacy. Add in messy gossip, leaks, and Akademiks chatter, and the silence between these former friends grew louder than any verse.

Friendship rarely plays out like a mixtape, but with Bron and Drake, every track feels personal. What began as harmony now echoes with tension, remixes, and subtle jabs. Yet, between tattoos, concerts, and sly lyrics, the bond never fully disappears. Maybe it shifts, maybe it bruises, but like any timeless beat, the rhythm of their story keeps pulling us back.