Lebron James has now been offically crowned a king, courtesy of GQ.
November’s issue features the Cleveland Cavaliers star on the cover donning a Romanesque crown.
Presenting GQ’s November cover star: LeBron James (@KingJames) https://t.co/oA6vvmJtcU pic.twitter.com/pX0Mp0tBT5
— GQ Magazine (@GQMagazine) October 17, 2017
What’s really special about this image is that it now doubles as my screensaver to pick me up after a rough day. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a funnier picture in my life before. You can’t look at this and not laugh.
All I see is this:
But in case you haven’t gotten enough of LeBron, here’s some more.
.@KingJames on becoming the Greatest, that “U bum” tweet, and life after basketball https://t.co/oA6vvmJtcU pic.twitter.com/kN2xytqo4o
— GQ Magazine (@GQMagazine) October 17, 2017
Overplayed crown imagery and questionable shirtless-ness aside, the accompanying feature is what really gets me. It seems like GQ called up Lebron one day and said, “We know your ego is huge, but we want to convince America that it’s even bigger than they thought.”
And he was like, “Are you gonna make me seem like a cross between Mohammed Ali and Martin Luther King Jr.?”
And GQ was like, “Yep. We’ll see you in Cleveland next week.”
Of course, I have no factual evidence to prove that this conversation ever occurred, but I’m sure something along those lines went down. And so here we are. Some notable excerpts from the spread are as follows.
Right out of the gate, the author hails him as a hero. “LeBron James has been basketball’s best player for the better part of 14 years. But it’s his work off the court — in business, in movies, and increasingly in politics — that will define the depth of his greatness.”
Just for clarification, the “increasing” involvement in politics refers most notably to this tweet:
U bum @StephenCurry30 already said he ain’t going! So therefore ain’t no invite. Going to White House was a great honor until you showed up!
— LeBron James (@KingJames) September 23, 2017
What makes this even better is the fact that GQ plays directly into Lebron’s “bum” tweet. The magazine asked “if he thought his adversarial stance against Trump might end up being for him what the Vietnam War was for Muhammad Ali.”
The athlete replied, “Time will tell.”
The mag goes on to discuss his successes on the court and in friendships. But what’s a big magazine feature without incessantly circling back to politics? Everyone knows you don’t have a story in 2017 unless you maniacally probe your guest for inflammatory takes on the president.
GQ asks, “Would you ever want to be President?”
And even Lebron is taken aback. He asks, “Of the United States? Nah.”
And he justifies he wouldn’t want to be president because he likes his “me time” too much. Hey, at least the King’s honest.
He does say it’s his responsibility to be the voice of a nation, however.
“It’s my responsibility. I believe that I was put here for a higher cause. We have people, not only today but over the course of time, that have been in the higher positions that chose to do it and chose not to do it.”
Maybe save yourself the money and watch this instead. It’ll have the same effect.
