Did LeBron James say 'he f***ing boomed me' about Jayson Tatum 4 times? Debunking popular NBA copypasta

It began when NBA reporter Ben Rohrbach tweeted a LeBron James conversation he overheard, and it has since become the inspiration of a longtime meme. The "f***ing boomed me" copypasta meme has been well-used for five years now.

It's said to have begun with LeBron James telling his teammates his reaction when Jayson Tatum posterized him in Game 7 of the 2018 NBA Eastern Conference Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics.

Rohrbach, now working with Yahoo Sports, said that he overheard the aforementioned conversation, saying via Twitter, now known as X:

"Overheard in Cavs locker room after Game 7: 'He got me,' LeBron said of Tatum's dunk over him. 'That f***ing Tatum boomed me.' LeBron added, 'He’s so good,' repeating it four times. LeBron then said he wanted to add Tatum to the list of players he works out with this summer."

LeBron James neither confirmed nor denied that he indeed said that.

However, as the said tweet was posted on Reddit, his statement has been altered to suit up a certain narrative regarding their copypasta memes, from Mike D'Antoni getting boomed by Carmelo Anthony, Sam Presti doing the same to Magic Johnson, to even James himself getting boomed by Thanos.

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Jayson Tatum's posterizer on LeBron James, five years on

Jayson Tatum led the Boston Celtics to the 2018 NBA Eastern Conference Finals in his rookie season.

Standing in the Boston Celtics' way for a shot at a return to the NBA Finals then were the Cleveland Cavaliers led by LeBron James.

The semifinal series reached sudden death, and in the decider, Tatum introduced himself to the NBA community by slamming the ball against James.

James, though, had the last laugh as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Boston Celtics to set up a championship date with the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors ended up victorious to win the title.

Tatum and the Celtics eventually got their shot at the Warriors in the 2022 NBA Finals, but despite the gallant stand, the Celtics fell short, and the Warriors reclaimed the championship.

Five years after the posterizer, Tatum has established his place as the Celtics' franchise player even as they remained title contenders.

Meanwhile, James moved to the LA Lakers, giving them the 2020 bubble championship and staying at peak shape despite reaching almost 39.