Billionaire LeBron James Is ‘the Cheapest Guy in the NBA,’ Won’t Pay for Elon Musk’s Twitter Blue
LeBron James may be a billionaire, but the NBA's all-time scoring leader still pinches pennies.
The 38-year-old Los Angeles Lakers star on Friday tweeted that he has no plans to pay for Elon Musk's Twitter Blue subscription, even if it means he loses his blue verification check mark on Apr. 1.
"Welp guess my blue ✔ will be gone soon cause if you know me I ain't paying the 5," James tweeted to his 52.8 million followers.
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Twitter Blue will actually cost $8 per month, not $5, though the distinction probably doesn't mean much to James, who once agreed that he was "the cheapest guy in the NBA."
In a 2017 interview with ESPN's Rachel Nichols, James called then-teammate Dwyane Wade's assertion of his cheapness "so, so, so falsely true."
"I'm not turning on data roaming. I'm not buying no apps," James said. "I still got Pandora with commercials."
Money Report
"You know you're rich, right?" Nichols countered.
"I'm not paying for it," James said. "I'm not paying."
The 4-time NBA champion has earned $431 million during his 20-year career, according to Spotrac data, including $44.4 million this season. Forbes estimates that he has earned an additional $900 million, pretax, in endorsements since he entered the league in 2003.
James' frugality is well-known enough that he leaned into it when he played himself in the 2015 Amy Schumer comedy "Trainwreck."
In the scene, James insists on splitting the check while at a restaurant with Bill Hader's character before revealing that he forgot his wallet.
"I don't know how long this could last," James says in the film when asked why he won't pick up the tab. "Anything could happen. I don't want to end up like MC Hammer."
Twitter owner Elon Musk announced this month that the social network was eliminating "legacy verified" check marks on Apr. 1 as he pushes users to sign up for Twitter Blue.
Moving forward, Musk says that only Twitter Blue subscribers will show up in Twitter's "For You" recommendation tab, and that polls will only be open to users who pay the $8.
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