The ongoing feud between Drake and Kendrick Lamar this year has had ripple effects, even indirectly involving NBA stars like LeBron James. While James wasn’t actively part of the dispute, he found himself name-dropped in one of Lamar’s diss tracks. This, along with his connection to both artists, led fans to speculate about which side the LA Lakers star might be leaning toward.
James hasn’t openly declared allegiance to either Drake or Lamar, but his close friend, Cuffs the Legend, appears to have made his stance clear. After Kendrick Lamar was announced as the headliner for Super Bowl LIX, Cuffs took to X (formerly Twitter) to express his thoughts. He accused the music industry of deliberately targeting Drake in an attempt to dethrone him.
“Even Stevie Wonder can see this was a full blown orchestrated attack by the music industry to knock Drake off his throne,” Cuffs the Legend wrote. “They know they can’t make better MUSIC than the boy so they turned a rap beef into colorism.”
The feud between Kendrick Lamar and Drake dates back to Lamar’s feature on ‘Control’ over a decade ago, but things only reignited this year. The spark was lit when Lamar denied the existence of hip-hop’s “big three,” referencing Drake and J. Cole after Cole’s name-drop. This led to a series of diss tracks from both sides.
The latest chapter of the feud unfolded when Lamar was confirmed as the Super Bowl LIX performer, which fueled further debate.
In June, NBA stars like LeBron James, DeMar DeRozan, James Harden, and Russell Westbrook attended a Kendrick Lamar concert in LA. DeRozan and Westbrook even joined Lamar on stage, which fans interpreted as a sign of support. Memes began circulating online, poking fun at Drake’s relationship with James and DeRozan. Fans remembered James joining Drake and Travis Scott on stage for a performance of “Sicko Mode” in the past, suggesting a closer bond.
More speculation arose when James was overheard at a Team USA practice this summer saying he loved Lamar’s track ‘Not Like Us,’ a diss aimed at Drake. With Steph Curry already expressing fatigue over the song, fans took James’ comment as confirmation that he had picked Lamar’s side in the feud.
