Did LeBron James credit Donald Trump for TikTok return? Debunking viral tweet ft. 4x NBA champ's statement

A tweet, allegedly from LA Lakers star LeBron James, circulated on X (formerly Twitter) Sunday after TikTok’s access was reinstated in the U.S. following its brief ban. The social media platform started restoring services after a short suspension linked to a federal ban on its Chinese-owned parent company.

The ban came into effect after the Supreme Court upheld legislation that required TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to divest its U.S. operations or face removal from U.S. app stores and hosting services.

A post on X suggested that LeBron James “had a feeling” TikTok would return after it went offline, before President-elect Donald Trump helped bring it back. However, the post originated from NBA Centel, a source known for parody content, which is sometimes mistaken for legitimate news.

NBA Centel falsely cited TMZ Sports as its source. While some users found the post amusing, it is not accurate and should be debunked.

The NBA Centel post included a reference to a meme where LeBron James was said to have predicted events that later went viral in the basketball community, referencing when he claimed to have predicted Kobe Bryant’s 70-point game before Bryant scored 81 points.

"I watched the whole game," LeBron said. "I seen the whole game. I was at home watching the game. Before the game even started, I said he was probably gonna score 70 tonight. I don't know what made me say that.”

“My friends whipped me, and I was like, 'Okay.' When he got to 70, I was like, 'He might as well go for 80.' I'm a fan of the game. To see that performance was unbelievable."

TikTok expressed gratitude in a statement to Trump for facilitating the return of the service.

“We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive," the company said in a statement.

"It's a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States."

LeBron James took a social media break in November

LeBron James, familiar with online criticism, announced a break from social media in November.

“And with that said I’ll holla at y’all! Getting off social media for the time being. Y’all take care ✌🏾👑,” he wrote.

The break lasted a while, but LeBron made his return to X about a month later, just before Christmas, sharing a post from his family foundation.

LeBron James has nearly 53 million followers on X.