Jay-Z Honors LeBron James Ahead Of All-Star Game

BYCole BlakePublished on February 20, 20233.5K Views

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 13: Shawn Carter attends the Los Angeles Premiere of "The Harder They Fall" at Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall on October 13, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)

Jay-Z paid tribute to LeBron James during NBA All-Star Weekend.

Jay-Z paid tribute to LeBron James ahead of the 2023 NBA All-Star Game. The legendary Los Angeles Lakers star recently passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the NBA's all-time scorer. Jay-Z spoke about his "excellence" during a video played for Sunday night's game in Salt Lake City, Utah.

"Being able to perform at a high level for a long period of time, that's excellence," Jay-Z said. "Long after you're gone, people may look at your name and like, 'That's what greatness is. There's not many you can compare LeBron to. A 19-time All-Star, a remarkable feat. The all-time leading scorer, all-time! I mean, what can you say? He's been through many iterations of the game and in each era, he's been the best. 'The Chosen One' and that's it."

Jay-Z's Tribute

Jay-Z added that he's excited to see the rest of the players take the court as well. "The players, they're super excited to play with one another," he said. "The league is in a great place right now. Every team has major stars, amazing, amazing performers."

LeBron James passed Abdul-Jabbar's record earlier this month during a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. At the time, a number of celebrities congratulated James including Drake, Magic Johnson, and more.

James ended up being injured during the All-Star Game after going up for a block attempt early in the second quarter. He finished with 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting and four assists. The status of his finger is unclear at this point, although James says he'll be fine. "I'll be fine. I don't think it's too much to worry about," he said afterward. The Lakers' next game will be Thursday against the Golden State Warriors at Crypto.com Arena. The team is ranked 13th in the Western Conference at 27-32. As for the rest of the All-Star Game, Team Giannis defeated Team LeBron 184-175. Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum was named the Kobe Bryant All-Star Game MVP. He finished with a record-breaking 55-points on 22-for-31 from the field with 10 rebounds and six assists. Post Malone and 21 Savage also performed at the event earlier in the night.

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About The Author

Cole Blake

Cole Blake is currently an Editor at HotNewHipHop based out of Brooklyn, New York. He began working at the site as an intern back in 2018 while studying journalism at St. John’s University. In the time since, he’s graduated with a bachelor's degree and written extensively about a wide range of topics including pop culture, film & television, politics, video games, sports, and much more. He’s also covered music festivals such as Gov. Ball and Rolling Loud. You can find him publishing work for HNHH from Monday to Wednesday or on weekends. On the sports front, Cole’s a passionate NBA and NFL fan with his favorite teams being the Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Lakers. He also roots for the Yankees whenever he finds himself at Yankee Stadium or the Red Storm when in the company of other SJU alumni. His favorite hip-hop artists are billy woods, Earl Sweatshirt, Cam’ron, MIKE, and Mach-Hommy.