LeBron James Flamed For Walking Around With J. Cole's "The Fall-Off" Vinyl

BY Zachary Horvath
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NBA: Los Angeles Lakers at Houston Rockets
Mar 18, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) reacts to his basket against the Houston Rockets in the second quarter at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea via Imagn Images
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LeBron James faces a lot of criticism even off the basketball court and many folks are making a joke of his support of J. Cole.

When you're as globally known as LeBron James, hate is going to come naturally. Anything a person like him does will be under a microscope. Unfortunately, the Los Angeles Laker wasn't even able to escape catching any sort of backlash even while taking a stroll recently. But it's not just because he was walking, it's what he was holding in the process. Caught by Kurrco, LeBron was photographed carrying around a vinyl of J. Cole's The Fall-Off.

This variant of the North Carolina native's album is still quite hard to come by, so maybe The King has some sort of plug that was able to hook him up.

However, even though it's cool to see him supporting the Dreamville CEO, folks online are rolling their eyes anyway. "The most performative nba player ever lol," one X user comments.

Another plays into the joke of LeBron being all-knowing. "N**** gon be like 'I knew Cole was gon drop the album when he did cause I could feel the energy changing."

A third is done hearing about the NBA legend online. "I’m ready for this n**** to be out of the limelight."

Amidst all of the hating, though, there are a few calling out the ridiculousness. "Yall be hating for the silliest reasons [laughing emoji]," one fan responds.

What's Next For J. Cole After The Fall-Off?

It's also a little odd to see him facing backlash because LeBron was hyping up J. Cole's album during the rollout earlier this year. For example, he reposted a screenshot from the album's teaser trailer writing, "CAN'T WAIT COLE WORLD."

He also showed love to the music just a few days ago, posting a video of himself bumping "Run A Train" in his car per Sportskeeda.

LeBron usually lets the hate and criticism roll off of his shoulders and we are sure he's doing the same here.

But as for J. Cole, he's been taking a little bit of a breather since dropping The Fall-Off on February 6. He recently wrapped up his Trunk Sale Tour where he drove across the United States selling CDs and meeting fans.

This summer, he'll be kicking off his massive world tour, specifically on July 10 in Charlotte. It will run through December 12 with the last show being Johannesburg. But even before that starts, J. Cole said in a blog post that a run of interviews is coming soon.

He explained that he wanted to give fans time to listen to the album and form their uninfluenced opinions and thoughts. "Now, I feel like it’s a good time to step out my comfort zone (home) and go and do some interviews. There’s a lot of platforms out there that I f*ck with, both big and small, and I look forward to showing up, showing love while continuing to push this album that I gave so much to."

About The Author
Zachary Horvath is one of the Music Freelance News Writers at HotNewHipHop and has held that title since August 2023. Prior to this position, he held another freelance gig covering local high school football, girls and boys varsity basketball, in addition to recapping Cleveland Cavaliers games remotely. He's taken the previous experience and used it to become a jack of all trades at HotNewHipHop. Zach has thoroughly enjoyed tackling some of the trending topics in sports, with a larger focus on hip-hop and pop culture. Some of those include Bronny James's draft stock, a multitude of angles swirling around the Drake and Kendrick Lamar beef, as well as Diddy's arrest and lawsuits. Separate from the headlines that everyone wants to hear about, he was fortunate enough to help spread Zaytoven's current thoughts at the time around mid-December in 2023. Even though being able to give his expertise on these stories is fulfilling, being able to share his passion for releases trumps that ever so slightly. Having the chance to express his excitement indirectly about what he thinks our readers should be checking out/revisiting grows his passion for writing that much more.

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