Lil Wayne has been around the entertainment and sports worlds for quite some time, and he’s now recalled the first time he met LeBron James while the phenom was still in high school.
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop and the NBA season tipping off, TNT caught up with Weezy earlier this week to hear how King James wanted to link up with him at a show in Ohio while he was on tour with Ja Rule.
The former Hot Boys rapper credited Birdman’s brother, Slim, for putting James on his radar and connecting them in the early 2000s.
“I had a show in Ohio and I was on tour with Ja [Rule],” he began. “Slim, Birdman’s older brother, called me he was like, ‘I got a player out there in Ohio. He want to come to your show. He gon’ be the one. I’m telling you Wayne, he’s a young Michael Jordan.’”
“I’m like, ‘What? He’s a high school player.’ Can he even come to the show? Then I had to remind myself that I was in high school too. ”
Wayne remembered that Juelz Santana — whose real name, funnily enough, is LaRon James — pulled up to the show that day and they kept LeBron waiting over an hour outside.
“When I got downstairs, that man was still downstairs in a suburban. He had like three of four homies with him,” Weezy continued. “I was like, ‘This the dude?’ What I remember was his arm was in a cast and they was protecting that and protecting that as in being seen. That’s what told me oh he must be somebody.
“I’ll never forget he had the time of his life. He remember that night, I remember that night. It was an unforgettable time.”
Check out Wayne recalling his first interaction with LeBron below:
The first time @LilTunechi met @KingJames 🐐 pic.twitter.com/nPWo2Ps6vR
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) October 24, 2023
LeBron and Lil Wayne’s paths have crossed many times over the years as he now suits up for Weezy’s beloved Los Angeles Lakers.
Back in June, Wayne admitted that he now has James ranked above Michael Jordan as the greatest player ever, pointing to the longevity of his decorated career.
Lil Wayne, LeBron James & More Explore Special Connection Between Hip Hop & NBA In Mini Doc
“I got old enough to know how hard it is to fucking do it back-to-back-to-back. So that’s where he got his respect with me to and started getting his respect with me to where he’s the greatest.
“It’s very hard to do, and that n-gga Bron did that shit with three different teams,” Lil Wayne told All The Smoke.
“That’s right there, that’s when regardless he ain’t got six, but he done it with three different teams. And not on one of those muthafuckin’ teams did he play role two. That right there is what tipped him over the Jordan scale for me.”
