Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James is taking a break from social media.
The 39-year-old made the announcement on X Wednesday, writing to his 52 million followers, ‘I’ll holla at y’all! Getting off social media for the time being. Y’all take care.’ He also shared his announcement on Instagram to his 159 million followers.
James didn’t elaborate on what prompted his hiatus, but the four-time NBA champion shared a post on X minutes before his departure that appears to offer insight into his decision. James shared a post from Rich Kleiman, the longtime agent and business partner of Kevin Durant, that criticized the negativity of sports media.
‘With so much hate and negativity in the world today, it confuses me why some of National sports media still think that the best way to cover sports is through negative takes,’ Kleiman wrote on Oct. 24. ‘We can all acknowledge that sports is the last part of society that universally brings people together. So why can’t the coverage do the same? It’s only click bait when you say it. When the platform is so big, you can make the change and allow us all an escape from real life negativity. I for one find it all a waste of breath. The Olympics and JJ and Bron’s show was the future of what this can and should all be.’
James reposted the message Wednesday, adding, ‘AMEN!! @richkleiman.’ James also shared Kleiman’s post on Instagram, writing, ‘Damn shame what it’s come to!’
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Five minutes later, James announced his social media break on X.
One day before his online departure, James chatted with the media following the Lakers’ 124-118 win over the Utah Jazz and noted that ‘everybody on the internet calls me a liar all the time.’ He dropped the quote while speaking about his teammate Dalton Knecht’s 37-point performance, saying he’s known how good the rookie is since his collegiate days
‘They say I lie about every (expletive) thing. So what am I now? I’ve been said it. I watched him, I watched Tennessee a lot,’ James said. ‘I did not think he was going to fall to us. I thought it would be impossible. I have no idea how that happened but very grateful and very happy that he’s here. I knew exactly what we was getting when he fell to 17.’
This is not the first time James has logged off for a period of time. He went dark online during the 2018 NBA playoffs after activating ‘Zero Dark Thirty-23.’The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.