LeBron James apologized Sunday for an Instagram post in which he quoted a 21 Savage lyric referencing "Jewish money." James received backlash for choosing to share that part of the song and offered an apology after the Lakers' loss to the Grizzlies.
"Apologies, for sure, if I offended anyone," James told ESPN after the game. "That's not why I chose to share that lyric. I always [post lyrics]. That's what I do. I ride in my car, I listen to great music, and that was the byproduct of it. So I actually thought it was a compliment, and obviously it wasn't through the lens of a lot of people. My apologies. It definitely was not the intent, obviously, to hurt anybody."
Surprised LeBron, who makes very few mistakes, put this out. Does quoting lyrics from a song absolve the person quoting from the responsibility behind the words? I’d argue no, especially with a following of 45 million. pic.twitter.com/efv9gkXres
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) December 23, 2018
The full lyric from 21 Savage's "ASMR" is "we been getting that Jewish money / everything is Kosher." ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the NBA does not plan to fine James for the post, and has accepted James' explanation that the lyric was a mistake.
The league office has been in contact with LeBron James about his social media post referencing "Jewish money," accepted his explanation that he made a mistake and the NBA will take no action, league source tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 24, 2018
James and the Lakers play a road game against the Warriors on Christmas (8 p.m. ET) as they look to improve upon their 19-14 record.
