LeBron James Says It’s ‘Always Love’ for Drake Even Though They’re in ‘Different Places Right Now’

Even as Drake and LeBron James’ once-strong bond has evolved over the past year and a half, the legendary basketball star is making it clear that he still has plenty of respect for the rapper.

The Lakers forward addressed his current relationship with Drizzy during a 360 interview with Complex‘s Speedy Mormon on Thursday (Sept. 18), and while things appear to be icy between the pair of superstars, it’s still love from King James’ side.

“Always wish him the best,” James said. “Obviously [we’re in] different places right now, currently. He’s doing his thing, I’m doing mine, but it’s always love for sure.”

LeBron and Drake were cool dating back to Drizzy’s So Far Gone era in 2009. In 2023, Drake even walked to the stage through the crowd with James and his son, Bronny, following Bronny’s health scare during an L.A. show on his It’s All A Blur Tour.

Things appeared to change following Drake’s battle with Kendrick Lamar, when James pulled up to Kendrick’s Pop Out concert last June, which Drizzy seemed to take personally when he let his displeasure with James be known while seemingly sniping at him on a pair of tracks. His leaked “Fighting Irish Freestyle” appeared to take shots at LeBron and those who crossed him.

“The world fell in love with the gimmicks, even my brothers got tickets, seemed like they loved every minute/ Just know the s–t is personal to us and wasn’t just business/ Analyzing behavioral patterns is somewhat suspicious,” Drake raps on the Conductor Williams-produced track.

Drake may have addressed LeBron again on July’s “What Did I Miss?” track, as he called out a friend who attended the Pop Out show. “I saw bro went to Pop Out with them, but been d—k riding gang since ‘Headlines,’” he spews.

The 6 God’s LeBron James high school jersey tattoo is no more, after Drake covered up the ink with a tattoo representing Canada’s own NBA MVP and Oklahoma City Thunder champion Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

It remains to be seen if Drake will have any more bars for James on his upcoming Iceman album.

Watch the full interview below. Talk about Drake takes place around the 15:40 mark.